#a few are meant to represent aging and dementia

[basic-addition]

Recently got some old art works back and thought you guys might wanna see them!

pls don't remove the watermark! repost if you want, it's the internet but credit me please, thank you!!

[mirkwoodshewolf]

A heavenly reunion pt. 1; Queen x reader

*Author's note*

This is it guys. After almost 3 years of writing this series it's FINALLY come to the end.  Like all good things, they must end eventually so here it is. The LAST chapter of my Rock Angel series.

I first want to point out the YEARS (except Freddie's death date) DON'T MEAN ANYTHING. I'M NOT TRYING TO PREDICT THE FUTURE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. I just picked these random years to represent when the remaining members of Queen will pass, AGAIN THESE AREN'T REAL DATES AND I HOPE THEY AREN'T.

Pt. 2 will be up in just a few minutes so until then, enjoy this first part.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@ixchel-9275

@simonedk

@queensdivas

@queendeakyy

@queen-paladin

@sparkleslightlyy

@starswin

@labessieisallama

@isabella-bby

@naturalswifty89

@onebigfangirlworld

@ssa-sadboi

@5sos-wdw

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@geek-and-proud

@wormzteef

@bohemiansweede

_______________________________________________________________

*3rd Person POV. June 23rd, 2051*

Rock star, animal rights activist, founder of organizations like ANGELS CURING AIDS, WORDS CAN HURT TOO; Victims and survivors of emotional and verbal abuse, and the ANGELS AGAINST STALKING that helps protect people from violent stalkers. Also apart of charities like the Mercury Phoenix Trust foundation. The Rock Angel (Y/n) Kline had lived a full life.

She continued to tour with Queen as they got many other partnerships throughout the years. But she most enjoyed collaborating with Adam Lambert as he reminded her of him, bright and ambitious just wanting to share his music with the world and he knew he could never fill in Freddie's shoes but he sure as hell made a name for himself in his own way.

She was also a part of the "Bohemian Rhapsody" film that had been made and got to know the actors playing the men that she had grown up with and came to see them as her true family. Ten years after the film released, her own story got to be told thanks to the rights of Paramount and the brilliant mind of Dexter Fletcher, who had directed the story of her boys and Elton John, another one of her dearest friends and mentors.

But now at the crippled age of 90, the Rock Angel now lived in the privacy of her home in London. She was forced to stop touring because just 3 years ago she was diagnosed with a form of dementia.

It was hard on her family and her 4 children and dozens of grandchildren even great-grandchildren to see the once strong woman they had once admired for so long and looked up to as a role model not only in music, but life.

In their current home of London, her husband of over 70 years Jack who had made a name for himself. After the whole stalking incident, Jack joined the ranks of the LAPD. He worked himself all the way to the top and became Chief for over 30 years before he retired by the time he was in his 60's.

He sat there by his wife's bedside stroking her long white hair as she lay there forced into bedrest. She looked up at him and whispered.

"Jack?"

"I'm here baby."

"Where are they? Where are my boys?" she asked.

"Our sons? They're just downstairs."

"No, no. I meant my boys." At those two words, Jack's heart broke as he looked at his wife sympathetically.

"Baby they've—they died. It's been so many years since they all left this world." At hearing her boys were dead, tears fell down her face but Jack held onto his wife and kissed the top of her head. "But I can show you their videos, if you'd like."

"Please. I need to see them. To tell them goodbye." Jack then reached for the I-pad and opened up the Youtube app and began typing in the very song that he knew he would need.

He knew his wife didn't have long and he wanted her to have one last happy memory of hearing the perfect song written by her boys.

Together they held the I-pad and soon the music video "These are the days of our lives" came on.

"Why does Fred look so sick?" she asked worriedly. Jack swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to explain.

"He was suffering from AIDS, and it—really affected him love."

"I wish I could've taken care of him." She said as she stroked the screen every time Freddie came on screen. At the instrumental break as she watched Brian skillfully play the guitar, she smiled and said. "Bri....he was such a good guitar player."

"He was, but nothing compared to you." Jack praised obviously playing favorites. He then took notice of his wife growing tired as the song ended.

It was time.

"It's okay baby, you can rest now." And she did just that. Her breathing slowed right as Freddie spoke the last 'I still love you' line and the video ended. "Goodnight my Rock Angel. Be with your boys once again." He then let out a sob as he leaned against his deceased wife.

At 10:45am on June 23rd, 2051 (Y/n) Kline was pronounced dead at the old age of 90.

Everyone who had collaborated with the Rock Angel or had looked up to her all gathered at her funeral. Close friends and family all came to mourn at the loss of the last of the greatest Rock and Roll singers. She was buried in her birth town of Leicestershire, right next to her real parents.

*My POV*

I felt peaceful. My mind was no longer hazy. I could remember everything once again, but what confused me was where I was. I found myself walking through a long corridor but as I passed a mirror, I stopped and backed up to find a shocking surprise.

I was young again.

I looked to be about the age of 19, when I first met the guys. My hair was in the same long wavy fashion I once had before I cut it. I stroked along my cheek just to see if this was real or a dream, but as I stroked it I found that it was. Suddenly a door opened before me and I don't know why but I found myself walking toward it.

Now I was in what looked like an office with everything you would see. Filing cabinets, a large desk filled with paperwork but what caught my attention was the abacus that stood at the front center of the desk.

"Ahh (Y/n) Kline, please come forward." I turned to see a man around his 60's with short black hair, a grim like face with sharp cheekbones and icy blue eyes. He wore a black business suit and he was intimidating but for some reason I came forward toward the desk.

He sat down and pulled out a file and began reading through it humming to himself then he said.

"Place your hand over the abacus." I looked at it to see that the color code was white and black. White at top and black at the bottom.

"What is this?"

"This shall determine your next step. Just place your hand over it and let fate do the rest." I didn't know what this was gonna mean but again I saw myself place my hand over it and the second I did, it started going frantic.

Moving up and down frantically with no one even touching it. It was mostly balanced most of the way until it finally majority of the counters went white. The man smiled and said.

"Give my regards to those Rockstar friends' of yours. I'll be looking forward to your next concert." He then snapped his fingers and everything went bright.

Next thing I knew, I heard the sound of birds chirping and felt the sun beaming down on me. I was then greeted with wide open fields and a giant house along with several barn-like homes. It was like Garden Lodge and Rockfield farm mixed into one.

As I stood a few feet away from the main mansion-like house I swore from the second window of the white satin curtains I saw movement. I walked towards the house and placed my hand on the doorknob, I paused for a few seconds before I finally opened the door. I walked in and it was exactly like Freddie's home of Garden Lodge.

I walked through the threshold to see the grand staircase to my right, the long corridor ahead of me and the entrance to the living room to my left.

"Hello?" I said as I stood there. It was then I felt something nuzzle between my legs and I heard a meow. I heard it again and I looked down to see a very familiar face. "Hey, Delilah." I picked her up and held her as she purred and nuzzled my face. I scratched under her chin and she lowered her head to lick my hand.

"No it should be more like this." I heard a low, smooth baritone voice say.

"No, no and no Mr. tuxedo! Bernie has it like this and it shall remain this way. He and I are the genius piano and songwriting duo and it'll stick to this rhythm and timing." Another voice boasted out.

Oh my god.....It can't be. I set Delilah down and she took off running up the stairs as I crossed the living room into the parlor where Fred kept his piano to see two men that I had not seen in forever.

"David? Elton?" I spoke up. The two men turned toward me. David looked so much healthier than last I saw him and he looked younger just like me, in fact he looked about the same age he was when he did Live aid as well as working on the Jim Henson project 'the Labyrinth'.

Elton on the other hand looked about the age from when he was first starting off, back before he began experimenting with all the drugs and all that. The vibrant ginger hair but he still had on those flamboyant sunglasses he always loved to wear.

"Is that—really you?" I asked bewildered.

"Oh shit it can't be. The high angel herself, the Rock Angel?" Elton dramatic tone.

"Yes, it's me."

"Ohh darling. Welcome home." David greeted me with a wide smile and open arms as he walked up to me. He embraced me as he chuckled warmly and said, "Did you have a good life darling?"

"Uh-huh. I had the best life." I said, my voice muffled within his blue suit.

"It looked like you did love." We separated and I couldn't help but admire just how healthy he was.

"How have you been David?"

"Much better darling. No more chemo, I can finally breathe again."

"That's good."

"Alright you overgrown smooth talker, let me at her now." Elton proclaimed as he shoved David aside and immediately came up and kissed both of my cheeks before embracing me. "Oh darling we sure have missed you."

"And I you Elton. Life just hasn't been the same without your music."

"Been practicing those scales I taught you?" he asked pointedly.

"Yes, whenever I could."

"That's my girl." He hugged me again and I buried my face into his shoulder.

"(Y/n)?" a choir of voices soon rang up. I felt my heart stop as I lifted my head, not believing what I was hearing. Elton let go of me and both he and David with soft smiles on their faces told me to go and see who it was. The four voices called out my name again.

I crossed through the parlor, ran across the living room until I came to the door and just halfway up the staircase, I felt my smile widen and tears fill my eyes.

"My boys."

"You're finally here!" Freddie proclaimed. My legs raced directly up the stairs and Freddie, Brian, Roger and John all gathered me at the center in a long awaited Queen group hug.

All I felt were arms wrapped around me tightly, kisses all over my head and face and gentle hair and back strokes. I don't even know how long we were in that hug for but I didn't care, all I cared about was the fact my boys were here all together. When we finally separated I finally got a good look at all four of them.

They were all so young and vibrant just like how I first saw them back in concert long before I became an intern, I would like to think they were now the same ages they were when they first played at the Rainbow back in 1974. Long hair and all.

"I can't believe you four are here." I praised.

"And we can't believe you're here. And with your long hair again, was this when you were most happy?" asked Brian.

"If by that you mean when I first became Miami's intern? Yeah, best day of my life. Do you guys hate it?"

"No darling we've loved you no matter what your hair length is." Freddie said as he stroked the ends of my hair.

"I only just hope you didn't bring along any extreme surprises. Belly button rings, more tattoos." Deacy teased me. I chuckled but felt tears fall down my face.

"Aww lovie what is it?" Roger cooed as I felt him rub my shoulder. All four of them looking at me with those concerned puppy dog eyes they all knew how to do.

"I'm sorry. It's just—I missed you four so much." They all awed as Freddie first took me in his arms and said with his head leaning against mine.

"I know darling. It seems like it's been forever since the five of us were together."

"Coming from you Fred you have no idea." I wept as I gripped onto him as tight as I could, burying my face into his long black hair which softly tickled my face.

God if there's anything I missed about Freddie, it was his warm hugs. They were always so warm and inviting, anyone who was lucky enough to be given any sign of affection from this loveable man was considered lucky, and I was fortunate to be one of those people, and now finally after almost 60 years, I was able to feel that affection once more.

We were now upstairs in the master bedroom to do some private catching up.

"Alright sister dear, come here you." Deacy said. I smiled and immediately went into his arms and he embraced me. As all of you know, after Freddie's death, Deacy was the one to take it the hardest. So much so that he hardly played at any Queen gigs except for maybe three occasions then by 1997 he officially retired and no one had heard from him since.

The guys and I respected his decision so in order to make sure he was alright, I kept in contact with Veronica and would occasionally ask how Deacy was doing as well as the kids. I had learned that the two of them had two more kids, Luke and Cameron and the two of them had been successful in their own ways, all of the Deacy kiddies had, especially Luke who followed in his dad's footsteps and played in a band of his own.

In fact with the permission of the parents, I had allowed my nephew Luke to play at a few of my tours, and god just seeing him play reminded me so much of his dad, not to mentioned he looked so much like him.

And it was an honor to play with a second generation of Deacon.

The sad news of Deacy's passing came to Jack and I from Laura on a cold November day in 2035. Out of the two of us, Jack was the most heartbroken because he not only lost a brother but his idol and mentor.

We were invited to the burial by decree of the Deacy clan but I made sure that through some makeup and wigs that Jack and I weren't recognized by press because we wanted this to be private. As Deacy would've wanted that.

"Ohh I've missed you so much (y/n)."

"Not as much as I missed you brother mine."

It was then my attention turned towards the last 2 members of Queen, the remaining members I kept working with till the end. Brian May and Roger Taylor.

Together in our lives after Freddie's death and Deacy's retirement, I had been there for everything Queen got to accomplish, and they did the same for me. In fact it was Brian who bestowed upon me my plaque to be initiated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before I was given my star right above Queen's.

I was also involved with some of the work they did for a little movie called "Bohemian Rhapsody", and they helped become a part of my movie "Set it all free Angel". I first turned my attention to Brian.

It had been almost 10 years since my movie came out and 20 for Queen's film Bohemian Rhapsody. I was in my home studio working on my next upcoming album when I had received a call from Anita telling me that Brian had passed away at the age of 93. It was a peaceful passing so he wasn't suffering or in pain which I was thankful for in a way, he's suffered through so much that if I wanted him to go out, it would have to be peacefully in his sleep.

The world was devastated at losing such an inspiring man. Not only in the music industry, but for his work in astrophysics, as well as the animal programs that he's helped funded and laws he helped raise awareness for.

When he died, I took over the business in his name and within 3 years; I finally helped get laws of abusing, harming or killing animals to be illegal and anyone caught doing that wouldn't get misdemeanors. They would face legal full sentencing of 20-50years in Federal prison. On the night the laws passed and I along with Brian's partnering animal rehab centers signed off on the law, I went to Brian's grave and told him everything.

I immediately glomped him into a hug and held onto his waist tightly. He embraced me back just as tight as I was holding him, me humming lovingly as I buried my face into his chest feeling him stroke down my hair. After what felt like forever, he separated from me and stared down at me with those loving hazel blue eyes of his as he placed both his hands at the top of my head before stroking them downward against each side of my head and ending by cupping my face in his hands.

"I am so proud of everything you've done (Y/n). I saw it all, thank you for continuing my legacy for animal rights."

"You taught me everything I needed to know about being kind and caring towards all creatures, so much so you helped inspire me to do my own animal rehabilitations and rescues. I just—wish I could've been there for you when you......"

"It was beyond your control love. But I didn't suffer. I knew you loved me, and would've done anything to come see me had you known. I never blamed you, so stop blaming yourself." I nodded as tears slipped down my face but with his thumbs he wiped them away before hugging me once more. I felt him kiss my temple before cupping the side of my face once more to kiss my nose.

Even as I got older and we were both in our senior years, he never once stopped with the nose pecks. I smiled and Eskimo kissed him before he pressed his forehead against mine. It was then I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned to my right to see Roger standing before me.

Besides Freddie's death, I think the most devastating thing for me was when Roger died. It was about a year after Brian's death when I had gotten a frantic call from my godson Rufus that Roger had been taken to the hospital because of a stroke. Without hesitating, I got into the car and raced to West London Medical Hospital, where I met up with the Taylor pride.

I was frantic with anxiety and fear that I would lose yet a 3rd member of Queen. Over 48hrs passed when Rog finally regained consciousness and I was sitting right there by his bedside holding his hand. He spoke so softly it was like whispers on the wind and the only thing he wanted to do was go outside.

Reluctantly the doctors allowed it so my godchildren, and his wife Sarina took him out to the hospital garden and allowed me some one on one time with him. But I didn't know that that would be the last time they would ever get to talk to him. The last words he ever spoke to me were and I still remember it to this day, even up here in heaven.

"Brian and Freddie have come to collect me, they send out their love to you and Deacy. Look after the old bastard for us." And I literally felt his life slip away from my hand as he died right there in front of me.

For months I was depressed. I was allowed to go to the funeral and speak my eulogy and I sang at his funeral, this time my own rendition of Phil Collins' song 'You'll be in my heart.' It was also because of his funeral that Deacy and I got even closer than we had in years.

He had secretly gone to both Brian and Roger's funeral but it didn't take till Rog passed for him to physically approach me and we both just wept and cried from losing a father, a brother, a great friend together.

Finally when I finally gained the strength, me and the Taylor children all took a picnic up where Roger was born and just looked out beyond the fields of where his childhood home was and reminisced on all the wonderful memories we had of our father.

And it was from his death I produced my album 'Papa Lion' and dedicated it to him; 'To my Papa Lion, and all the other father lions out there. Keep protecting your children no matter what'.

"You gonna get into these arms or what love?" he asked me. I spoke not a word but felt tears in my eyes as I raced up and buried myself into his neck and dirty blonde almost brunette hair. He held me and spun me around, kissing all over my face humming and moaning lovingly.

When he finally set me down, he cupped my face just like Brian did but he gently leaned forward and very gingerly headbutted my forehead and the two of us nuzzled each other, rubbing our noses together.

Like a father lion and his cub reuniting with each other at last.

I held onto his wrists which still cupped the sides of my face and just allowed my tears to fall out but I couldn't stop smiling.

"I hope those are happy tears." He said to me. I sniffled and nodded.

"Yeah the—these are....ha-happy tears." I choked out.

"You know you don't have to be so strong around me, right lovie?" It was then I just broke down and wept as I embraced him. "Shhh, shh. I'm here my lion cub, I'm here. Papa lion is here." He whispered in my ear.

"God I have waited so long for you to say that." I whimpered out to hear him softly laugh and just hug me tighter.

"Oh my darlings.....my heart.....it's too full!" We heard Fred exclaim out dramatically. We both laughed as I nuzzled deeper into my papa lion's chest, happy to finally be reunited with them.

After finally calming down, we were all just sitting around the master bedroom. I was up against the couch leaning against Deacy's legs as he was currently brushing and braiding my hair.

"So you guys continuing to rock it out here in Heaven?" I asked.

"Don't you know it darling. Every good singer who has helped made a difference comes up here and we continue to live a peaceful eternity doing what we were born to do. Be performers." Freddie stated.

"In fact we just had our concert the other night. We got to perform alongside the Beatles." Said Roger.

"Shut up! The Beatles?!"

"You know it love, Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr." Said Brian.

"Wow, I wish I could've seen it." I said.

"You will darling, we perform our concerts every single night. And it's always a mix mash of artists and bands collaborating together to perform the Greatest Heavenly Rock 'n Roll concert." Said Fred.

"Now that you're here poppet, you'll get the chance to perform with the best of the best." Said Deacy. I was flabbergasted.

"Holy......" I couldn't even finish it because I was just so shocked to think that I would be performing with the greatest artists long before my time and bands I wish I had the chance to record or perform alongside with. The guys all chuckled at me and I said.

"So that's why David and Elton were here."

"Mm-hmm. We're all performing together in tonight's show. Three artists of the 70's decade for the first time ever sharing the stage together." Said Brian.

"Ohh man what people would've killed to see that in person. I mean yeah you guys performed at the same venue like we did with Live Aid or did some recordings together but never all three of you guys on stage at once." I said.

"That's how it works around here." Spoke Deacy as he finished the last strand of my braid. I thanked him and observed the braid he had done and I commented.

"You've gotten better Deacy."

"Laura was good practice. My baby girl always wanted her hair braided."

"She may have gotten that from me, sorry." He playfully scowled at me but I cheekily stuck my tongue out at him. "Say Fred, where's Jim at? I figured if you were here, he would be too."

"Oh that man of mine, he's out tending the garden, come have a look." He escorted me to the back window and there I saw a field of flowers as far as the eye could see.

"Whoa. He's done all of that?"

"Been doing it since 2010 darling. Always a hard worker my husband. When he first came, I was worried he wouldn't like this appearance of mine, after all I didn't have my tache and my hair was much shorter than when I first met him."

"Jim loves you Freddie. He loves you no matter what you'd look like."

"And I did know. Turns out he's got a long hair kink." He whispered to me which made me choke out a laugh.

"Seriously?" He nodded ecstatically and that's when Deacy spoke up.

"We're still here Fred, no need to hear any of that."

"Oh god Deacy don't act so innocent. After all you were the one who wrote a song about pre-ejaculation." Deacy's mouth just gaped before turning stoic, and of course Rog and Bri were laughing their asses off. He turned to me and I shrugged saying.

"He's got a point."

"Okay yeah ha-ha fuck all of you."

"Oh come off it John. We mean no harm by it." Roger teased

"At least it's better than a car fucking song." Deacy fired back.

"That's not funny!" Roger proclaimed.

"It is kinda funny." Deacy sassed back.

"Okay, okay enough both of you. I had enough of your arguments to last an entire lifetime. I don't need to relive it now when I just got here." I stated.

"Sorry love." They both choired out.

"Oh (y/n), I do have a surprise for you though." Brian spoke up. I looked at him and said,

"What kind of surprise?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?" He said as he walked right up to me.

"If you tell me, I'll still act surprise." He chuckled and wrapped an arm around me.

"C'mon love, let's head outside." We soon went down the stairs and headed out of the house.

Brian lead me to an open field about a half mile away from the house. There was nothing but green for miles ahead.

"Brian what's this about?"

"You'll see." He then took his index finger and thumb and curled them inward like pinchers before placing them against his lips letting out a loud whistle. We stood there for a moment that was until I heard a bark. A very familiar bark. No it—it couldn't be.

Soon jogging up the hill about a mile away was a German Shepherd. His familiar traditional fur coat shined under the sun as he looked right at me. He let out a couple of barks and soon several more dogs came running up beside him.

They consisted of a golden retriever, 2 pit-bulls, 3 huskies (1 traditional black and white, another grey and white and the last one an auburn coloring), a collie, and 4 Labradors (2 blacks, a tan and one brown).

With each dog that this pack had, I knew every single one of them. I turned to Brian baffled and he just grinned at me before nodding telling me that they were who I thought they were. I turned back around and the German Shepherd let out a bark. I then let instinct take over and ran as I cried out.

"Bucky!" He soon came running after me, as did all the other dogs barking and panting as they all ran down the hill towards me. "C'mon kids! Come on!" I proclaimed. Each dog was running as fast as they could but Bucky and the black and white husky Shasta were leading the pack. "C'mon kids!" Bucky let out some barks as he raced ahead of Shasta and we met half-way.

Bucky leapt with both paws to my shoulders knocking me down onto the ground.

"Ohh Buck. I can't believe it's you! Ohh look at you boy! Good boy Buck!" A second later Shasta came up to me whimpering happily as his tail wagged. "Oh Shasta baby boy look at you! Hi~ Hi baby boy~." Soon enough my entire dog pack was all up on me grunting and whimpering happily as they all began to tackle me, wanting my attention and love.

Now while you all know I've had Bucky and Sammy as the family pets for Jack and the kids. The other dogs have a different story. The two pitbull brothers that I had named Titan and Bear were rescue dogs when I was a part of an actual rescue mission with one of my animal charities in saving dogs from a Mexican dogfight.

Whenever I was free from touring and recording, I made sure they were well taken care of and even let them stay at my home for awhile before they were finally adopted by a good family.

My triple threat huskies Shasta, Maya (the grey and white) and Eevee (auburn) were actually Kelly's dogs. Shortly after she left for college, she wanted to fill her house with dogs so she adopted these three and very often when she would visit or we would visit her, these troublemakers were always there. Sweet and loveable but stubborn little buggers but I wouldn't take them either way.

The Labradors were also rescue dogs that I helped out. The black one Raider and white one Rowdy were just left abandoned tied up in the backyard of their owners homes. The owners had abandoned them and left them for dead in the hottest summer of the year. But thanks to my team we got them out, sheltered and good homes but I occasionally checked in on them since I couldn't let them go.

The brown lab Cleopatra and the other black lab Midnight were once stray dogs till my son Freddie found them and gave them some food and water. Since he didn't have the heart to turn them to the shelter he adopted them. They even started their own little family since Midnight and Cleopatra were mates together and had many puppies together.

And finally the beautiful Collie was Jezebel. Jezebel was something special because she was actually my nana's dog. I hadn't seen her since I was probably five years old, she was already an old girl growing up but from what I remember, she was so maternal with me.

Whenever my nana was busy with something, she knew she could trust Jezebel with me.

After giving every single dog my attention I finally managed to stand up and see all the dogs in my life standing in a row.

"Jezzy, Bucky, Sammy, Titan, Bear, Shasta, Maya, Eevee, Cleo, Midnight, Rowdy and Raider. I don't believe it. Good doggies. My lucky dog pack. I can't believe you're all here. How did you find them all?"

"I was out strolling wanting to observe the stars when I found Bucky and Sammy. They immediately recognized me and just came running right for me. Soon enough they brought me to meet the rest of the dogs you've known and rescued. I was surprised about the collie but I knew she wouldn't be among them if she wasn't a part of your family."

"Yeah, Jezebel was my nana's dog. I called her Jezzy cause I couldn't quite pronounce her name. She was like my guardian dog angel. Always maternal until she passed away of cancer when I was just 5 years old." I walked up to her and pet her head and she leaned up against me. "She even saved me from almost being attacked by a stray dog one summer."

"Well I'm very glad she did." Brian said as he walked up and stroked her head and she gave his hand a friendly sniff and lick.

"And you took care of all of them?"

"Well I'm an animal activist through and through. If Freddie takes care of every cat that comes to Heaven, I thought I should take care of the animals I've grown fond of, but also the animals my little protegee has taken on herself. As well as the family dogs." I smiled and Brian and thanked him with a hug and he gratefully hugged me back.

As the day drew to a close and nightfall came, the boys had escorted me over to the Heavenly Concert hall. If we want to look at it scale wise, imagine it as Wembley Stadium during the time of Live Aid back in 1985. We drove in a royal golden carriage fit only for her royal majesties themselves.

"Wow, it's just like Wembley stadium."

"It is in a way, but it can fit an infinite amount of people. Any and all are welcome to watch us perform." Said Deacy.

"And we won't need to do soundchecks or anything?"

"Nope. This is heaven darling. Up here everything works to the full capacity and capability. No have to worry ever again about sound checks or power outages." Freddie stated. Our carriage soon stopped at the back entrance and the doors magically opened.

I stepped out first followed by Deacy, Roger, Brian and Freddie. Deacy wrapped his arm around me and guided me into the building and the five of us followed the sign down to the basement level where the dressing rooms were.

And it was like they said, I saw dozens of stars with the names of so many artists and bands before and during my time. Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin, the Beatles, David, Elton, Led Zeppelin, REO Speedwagon, George Michael, Phil Collins, Bob Dylan, and everyone and anyone you could think of.

"And here we are darling, your dressing room awaits." Roger said as he stood before a red door with a golden star with wings on each side that read in bold black letters my stage name ROCK ANGEL. He opened it up and I was in awe.

Inside was a very large room filled with furniture, a huge makeup station with large mirror decored with lamplights around the perimeter of it.

On the left side of the dressing room were hundreds of different outfit's I've worn throughout the years. Everything was there on hangers along with some of the hats I wore, fedora's, cowgirl, and my famed flat caps of various different colors and styles.

While on the right; I could see just music instruments like the Red Special Brian had made for me up against a special holder up along the wall right by my makeup stand.

"Is this my....."

"Go on and have a look darling." I heard Freddie say in my ear.

"Okay. I finally have my own mall." I walked in and was just in awe at everything. It looked like heaven had taken my master bedroom from my first home I had after becoming the Rock Angel and just put it all here.

I walked inside and said.

"Ooo, very nice shoes." I pointed out on the shoe wrack seeing some of the styles of shoes I've worn. From combat boots, to Adidas', flats, and even the high-heeled boots that Deacy always wore during the 1970's.

"We're glad you like them darling. Why don't you go around that corner and press the black button along the dresser." Deacy said. I walked further in and reached a dresser and found the black button. When I pressed it, a couple of shelves slowly opened up revealing almost every pair of sunglasses I've always worn.

"Oh my god! I've missed wearing these." I picked up a pair of my ray ban black and gold framed sunglasses. "Didn't I make these look good?" I quickly turned to see the guys were gone. "Guys?"

"Over here love." I heard Brian's voice say. I walked towards the right to see my boys standing or sitting along some of the foot stools.

"Oh there you all are. Ohh nice amps." I couldn't help but see the amps up along the wall. "I—I'm just...." Before I could continue a remote was tossed over at me by Roger as he said.

"Before you even say anything else. Type in combination 2-1-2." I muttered the combination to myself as I pressed the numbers and soon the closet before us opened and soon revolving around were various guitars and bass guitars, shelves soon opened revealing several pairs of drumsticks each imprinted with my name on them.

I had no words.

"Umm....this is.....I can't—" I jumped back a bit as the top shelves suddenly opened revealing two different microphones. One was a basic black but it was bedazzled with red gems while the other one was pure gold with golden gems.

"Elton and I had a little hand of having your microphones designed." Said Freddie with a modest shrug.

"I mean....guys this is......unbelievable. And this is all mine?"

"Oh darling you should see ours. It's practically the entire mansion back home."

"Each star that comes here is given the full custom of what they've enjoy back on Earth. And since you've favored how you once had your rotating dressers back in 2011, it's all here for you but advanced into your instruments as well." Said Roger.

"And if anyone has any suggestion like if they're close to another artist, they can submit some suggestions of what should be in said artists dressing room." Brian spoke up.

"Aww you guys, I love you." I said as I came up to them and we got into a group hugged.

"We love you too (Y/n) darling. Now hurry up and get ready, the concert is about to begin." The boys left me to my own business. I walked up to my clothes rack and went through every style and decided that if I was to do my first concert in Heaven, I might as well wear exactly what I wore for my first concert as the Rock Angel.

After getting ready and doing my makeup the same way Freddie had done for me that day in Madison Square Garden, I picked up my Red Special and put it around my neck and left my dressing room.

"The Rock Angel is back." I looked up to see the boys standing across me in front of their dressing room, dressed to the T like they had at the they did at the Odeon theater Christmas Eve 1975. I smiled and said.

"Well look at you guys, it seems like only yesterday I was sneaking my friends into the house while Joanna and Graham were at their Christmas party just to watch you guys live at the Hammersmith Oden theater." I sassed.

"Thank you love, now c'mon time to head to the stage." Roger said. The lads cheered and I followed behind as we all walked back up the stairs and went through the corridors of backstage. Hundreds upon hundreds of artists were getting themselves ready to go up and perform.

I watched as the boys did their typical body warmups to get themselves pumped up when I felt a nudge at my arm.

"You seem quiet poppet, everything okay?" I looked up to see Deacy standing beside me.

"You said anybody whose anybody comes to see these shows right?" He nodded and I said solemnly, "Do....do you think my family, like my mum and dad know that I'm here now? That I'm here performing?" I felt him wrap his arm around my shoulder and he said.

"It's possible. Anytime a new artist or band comes here, it's fully announced far and wide throughout Heaven. So there's a good chance they might be out there in the audience."

"I hope so. I just want to show them what I've achieved, I want them to be proud of me."

"They are poppet. Just like we are." He embraced me in a one armed hug leaning his head against mine.

"I really have missed these moments between us Deacy."

"So have I. And I've got a hell of a lot of comforting to catch up on."

"Well now's a good start."

"Oi you two! Are we going to perform or not?" The two of us smiled as we heard Roger's voice cry out to us. My brother looked down at me and he said.

"C'mon, let's go do our thing." I nodded and we headed towards the guys.

*3rd Person POV*

Once again it was concert time. Every soul that had passed into heaven that was a fan of Rock and Roll or music in general came from far and wide to come to the concert of concerts, even bigger than the Earthly event that Live Aid gave the world.

Generations of artists and musicians that had come from around the world from many different backgrounds came to this very stadium to give the performance of their afterlives. Thousands, almost a million people poured into the stadium as the lights were flashing and doing their test run for each artist that would perform that night.

Soon Bob Geldof came onto the stage and everyone applauded for him.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Welcome once again to the Heaven's Rock and Roll concert." Everyone applauded and cheered holding up signs of their favorite artists or bands that would be performing tonight. "It gives me great honor to announce that we recently were given a new arrival, but I won't give it away on who it is." The audience crowd because they wanted to hear who it was as Bob continued, "I'll leave that to the band who know her best. So without further ado I would like to bring up on stage the first band performance of this evening's festivities. These lads I knew personally and they helped make one of the biggest rock concerts even greater than I could ever imagine. These four individually talented young men rose to the stardom in the early 1970's before exploding into the worldwide phenomenon by the 1980's. Ladies and Gentlemen please bow before her royal majesties that is Queen!"

The crowd roared with applause as Bob left the stage and the stage grew dark. Soon the opening notes for "Now I'm here" began playing and everyone cheered louder as they began clapping in rhythm. Those who have seen and grew up seeing Queen live, knew exactly how to react and behave during a Queen concert and those who got to know Queen up here in heaven got a taste of what it would've been like had they seen them in person with all four of them up on stage.

Soon Freddie's silhouette and voice echoed through the speakers as he began to sing the song. When the song began to pick up, the lights on stage exploded as did fire from the sides of the stage as all four members of Queen were finally revealed to the crowd.

Freddie lead with the vocals and his mates and brothers backed him up on not only the vocals but their instruments, and ever the frontman he was, strutted the stage like it was his as his voice overpowered and reached out into the audience with a force unlike anything.

By the end of the song, Freddie proclaimed into the microphone.

"Thank you! Thank you, good evening everybody!" The crowd cheered as Freddie continued, "Oh it looks magnificent out there tonight. Okay my darlings, right now. Right now, we're going to take you for the first time ever we're taking you all to the battlefield. This is called Ogre Battle!"

The boys continued to play a few more songs like 'White Queen', 'Killer Queen', 'Bohemian Rhapsody', 'Don't stop me now' and 'Son and Daughter' included with Brian's famous guitar solo giving Deacy and Freddie enough time to change clothes for the next half of the performance. Freddie now wearing the famed black satin outfit with his chest exposed and diamond fingernailed glove as well as the chain glove on the other.

"Yes thank you, thank you very much. Featuring Brian May on guitar!" Brian took a bow as the spotlight shined on him and the crowd cheered. "Now then my darlings, as I'm sure everyone's heard we have a new arrival. A very special girl to all four of us. How would you all like to meet her?"

The crowd roared with applause and soon Roger began doing one single rhythmic beat. Hearing the beat made the entire audience clap in that single beat rhythm.

"She first rose to the spotlight in the summer of 1981. A bright, charismatic young woman whose music has touched the lives of millions. To us she wasn't a shadow of our fame, she was an equal partnership. The like of which we had never knew we could ever ask for. Ladies and gentlemen and everyone up in the balcony give it up for Heaven's very own Rock Angel, Mrs. (Y/n) Kline!"

From up on the catwalk above the stage, the silhouette of the Rock Angel herself came up and it appeared that she actually had angel wings sprouting from her back as she began the first verse of her famed song "Set it all Free".

By the chorus, the screen lifted up and she hopped off the catwalk and gratefully fell from the 10ft catwalk onto center stage playing her Red Special as her boys backed her up as they always did whenever they performed this song together.

And seeing the two artists perform together, Queen and the Rock Angel, the crowd was in pure excitement bouncing up and down and crying out the lyrics to the well known song that the Rock Angel's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.

But none were more happy to perform once again than the artists that were on stage. It had been forever since it was the five of them together up on stage and they couldn't help but look at each other. As the guitar solo came up, it turned into a guitar battle between the Rock Angel herself and Brian May which got the crowd really pumped up.

By the end of the song, everyone was chanting out 'Angel! Angel! Angel!'

"Hello Rock and roll heaven how's everyone doing tonight!?" The crowd welcomed her with a roar of applause. "God I can't believe I'm here performing with my boys once again. And right now we'd like to bring out a special guest for this next number." She turned to Deacy who nodded and began playing his bassline for "Under Pressure" which got the crowd applauding louder.

"This man is a well-known legend and the birth of a true 'flamboyant' hard rocker. And a very close friend of mine." Freddie started.

"Six time Grammy award winner, 4 time Brit award winner, actor, musician. Everyone put your hands together for Mr. David Bowie!" (Y/n) proclaimed into the mic.

It was then Freddie and (Y/n) began singing the first part of the song as at the center stage a circular hole began to open and soon rising up onto the stage was David Bowie himself. He wore a royal blue suit with a black undercoat suit shirt as well as the business white shirt. A light blue tie and black shoes.

He soon began his line of the first bridge as Freddie and the Rock Angel backed him up. When the second part of the song came up after Freddie's little vocalization, David gave the gesture for (Y/n) to take the second part of the song. And as she always performed it, she would lowly sing in her alto range before suddenly belting out to the perfect volume as she would hold the note out for as long as she could letting the two legends back her up.

Just like the record Freddie and Roger softly sung the first part of the break, then David came in before (Y/n) belted out the why vocals before the song picked right back up. It was something that could only be seen in Heaven. Three legendary singers performing one song.

David Bowie, Freddie Mercury and (Y/n) Kline the Rock Angel.

The three lead singers stood side by side with each other with David on the left, Freddie in the middle and (y/n) to the right. The three in almost rehearsed synchronicity began to sidestepped across the stage as all three voices blended the bridge that it could give one an eargasm.

Agreeing with each other and knowing what she could do to close the song, both David and Freddie stepped back with (y/n) completely unaware as she just allowed the song to consume her.

At the final note, she let out a proud controlled belt that was first heard at Freddie's tribute concert and it almost seemed like the sun was rising as the stage was lit up in a heavenly glow as she held the note. The entire audience was in an uproar as they gave a standing ovation to the Rock Angel herself.

She turned around and saw the five older men smiling at her and applauding her for a phenomenal performance that they have missed so dearly.

The concert continued as Elton John soon came up on stage and together he, Freddie and (y/n) sang 'I'm still standing' a song that was personal to all three of them in some shape or form but they knew this was the perfect song for them all to sing.

After a few more Queen songs, with the allowance of their beloved Rock Angel since her set was about to come up after theirs, she allowed them to stay and be her band as she would perform her hit songs before the souls of Heaven.

Songs like 'Who I am', 'So good,' 'Bridge of light', 'Rock angel', her rendition of 'Somebody to love', 'We'll be together', and with her boys already up there with her they did a few more duets of Queen songs like 'Friends will be friends', 'Spread your wings', 'Fat Bottomed girls', and 'Jailhouse Rock'.

Finally their time was up and as 'God save the Queen' played through the speakers, all five of them stood side by side each other and bid the crowd a goodbye and thank you.

After watching several performances from backstage, and when the concert finally came to a close it was time for the after party. So just outside in the back a beautiful garden was set up with refreshments and plenty of drinks to fit everyone's needs and all the performers of the night came out to talk amongst one another and to celebrate another well-performed concert.

As well as to welcome their newest achievement.

*My POV*

Oh my god. That was a thrill rush, and now being here at the after party I saw literally everyone. Elvis, Janis, the Beatles, Little Richard, Elton, David, Hendrix, everyone in rock and roll big names were gathered around this beautiful garden.

As I went to go grab some water I felt a hand tap my shoulder and there stood John Lennon himself.

"So you are the famous Rock Angel?" I swallowed my water and was completely star-struck.

"Y-yeah I.....Mr. Lennon I....."

"Please call me John."

"Okay, John. Can I just say.....just between us that you were always my favorite Beatle out of the group."

"Coming from you that's a huge honor. And now I can finally rub it into Paul's face the bugger." I laughed and that's when I heard a female voice say.

"Alright let me at her, where is she?" And there donned with her famous fur coat, tall Russian-like hat and red circular shades was Janis Joplin herself. "And there she is. The one female rocker better than me." She spoke as she came up to me.

"Oh no Mrs. Jop—"

"Ah-ah. Mrs. Joplin is not my name. Call me Janis baby girl." I blushed and she wrapped an arm around me and said, "You know, you and I aren't so different kid."

"How so?"

"Well we both struggled in our families and personal lives, got together with some male rockstars to form a partnership before splitting off to have our freedom. The only difference is, is that I wish I had your strength. I decided to call it quits with heroin being my way to kick the bucket."

"You were someone I did look up to. I mean yeah you had your struggles, but hell you didn't take shit from no one. When conservative minds at the time wanted you to do it their way, you said....."

"'Fuck you. I'm doing it my own way!'" She finished off which made the two of us laugh. "Yah know something baby girl, I like you. Promise me for Lady's night you'll do a song with me?"

"It would be an honor Janis." She smiled and hugged me tightly.

"Alright my darlings, may we have everyone's attention?" Freddie's voice soon spoke up as he was now standing on top of a table. Everyone looked up and as the boys of Queen stood up front Freddie continued, "First of all magnificent show all of you. So cheers my lovely darlings." Everyone of us raised our glasses in the air saying 'cheers'.

"We'd also love to specifically say a wonderful show for our newest arrival," Brian spoke up. He turned to me and extended his hand out for mine. I took it and he gently pulled me up front so that everyone could see me.

"Our beloved Rock Angel herself, (Y/n) Kline." Roger spoke up as he smiled warmly down at me.

"To the Rock Angel!" Deacy stated as he raised his cocktail glass in the air.

"To the Rock Angel!" Everyone choired at me. I bashfully smiled and said.

"Thank you, it was an honor to see most of you perform tonight, and it was great to perform with someone of you once again after so many years. I hope I have the privilege to perform with every single soul here." I said.

We then raised our glasses once more and the mingling and partying continued long into the night.

[nahcam]

look! it’s cambriel ‘cam’ slovak. they have been living in south kingsboro for two years. they say the twenty three year old can be impulsive but also loyal, but i just think he looks a lot like logan lerman 

this too me ages to do ajkvndfsjv but here is this trash bags intro ! i’ve had cam for probably almost a decade now ( yikes lmfao ), he’s a super old character of mine & i never thought i would be bringing him back but here he is, slightly revamped !!

tw: drug and alcohol abuse, abuse, mental illness, violence, mentions of miscarriage 

full  name : cambriel  mikhailo  eleazar  slovak

nicknames : honestly  just  cam , he’ll  probably  scream  at  you  if  you  call  him  anything  else  lmfao

gender : cismale

height :  6 ‘ 0

age : 23

birthday : october  21 ,  1996

zodiac : libra  sun  ( libra - scorpio  cusp , also  known  as  the  cusp  of  ‘ drama  and  criticism ’ ) , aquarius  moon , scorpio  ascendant

right  handed  or  left  handed : left  handed

eye  color : really  baby  blue , looks  darker  in  some  lightings 

hair  color : jet  black

piercings  &  tattoos : no  piercings , the  libra  symbol  on  his  right  ankle , the  name  ‘ eleazar ’  on  his  left  wrist ( grandfather’s name ) , this tattoo of an unborn fetus on his upper left bicep which represents him because his parents say he was ‘the abortion that got away’, but this also represents his unborn child with ellie, and these finger tattoos right here !

languages  spoken : ukrainian ( native  tongue ) , pretty  decent  hebrew , english

sexuality : tragically ? heterosexual / heteroromantic  ( 🤢🤮 )

place  of  birth : odesa , ukraine

last  3  songs  listened  to : stadium  arcadium  by  red  hot  chili  peppers , a  gondola  ride  in  paris  by  the  messenger , weight  of  love  by  the  black  keys

character  inspo : a  mix  of  lip  and  frank  gallagher  from  shameless u.s , james  cook  from  skins  u.k  ( huge  muse  from  this  one ! ) , a  mix  of  fezco  and  rue  bennett  from  euphoria , billy  hargrove  from  stranger  things 

soo cam was born in odesa, ukraine to a bulgarian mother ( danijla ) and a ukrainian father ( mikhailo ). now, to put it simple, neither mikhailo nor danijla wanted to have a kid at all. his mother had just turned sixteen when she found out she was pregnant and his father was barely nineteen. the only reason they even had cam is because they were literally told ‘you’re too far in the pregnancy to abort’. needless to say, he was not a wanted child at all

his first few years were mostly him staying with a terrible babysitter his parents hired to take care of him while they were out partying, since he was too young to attend school

he grew up in poverty. most of the time, his parents weren’t really around and there was nothing to eat. he grew up wearing hand me downs from his older cousins, basically broke AF tbh, and his parents cared more about getting fucked up then feeding their son ( and their only son, at that )

from a pretty young age, he remembers living in pretty shitty conditions. his house was always a mess, always scattered with empty bottles of alcohol and a lingering smell of weed, sometimes even meth, but he was too young to know the smell of that

things were never really okay for him, but he managed and learned to fend for himself early on. it wasn’t until he was around six, almost seven, that shit started getting real

his mother began cheating on his dad. when he wasn’t home, she would bring over the same guy and lock the door of their room, telling cam the man was her brother and also his ‘uncle’. cam, of course, was too young to see what was really going on. he never said anything when the man would leave minutes before his father would come home, mostly because he didn’t think it was important

he was going to school one day when he forgot to knock on the door to his parents room. he basically barges in and catches his mother having sex with the guy she claimed was her ‘brother’, and even though he was young, he knew better. luckily, they were too into what they were doing to notice cam walking in, so he quickly walked out and went to school. it’s a lot to witness your parent cheating on your other parent, and it’s even worse if you’re fucking six years old. cam was determined to tell his father, but he didn’t have to

that day, when he came home from school, he found his father drinking on the floor, tears in his eyes, claiming his mother had packed all her things and left. from that moment on, it was just cam and his father

you would expect things to get better from there on out, since mikhailo no longer had anyone to go out and party with, but things just seemed to spiral downwards. mikhailo became angry and began to drink and do drugs ( mostly just coke ). and, if you guessed it, he began to take out all his frustrations on cam

it wasn’t even that big at first, mostly just insults, him telling cam that they meant to abort him, but waited too long and found out too late to do so, petty, petty shit that obviously hurt cam, but he managed it, because his father was the only person he had left

after a while though, it became physical. cam began to notice how differently his father would act when he was sober ( almost never ) versus when he was fucked up. he became violent, little words setting him off. it was almost like he had a split personality of some sort, with the way cam would watch him switch off one moment then switch on the next

he became a victim of abuse, and of course, this led to pretty violent behaviors from pretty early on in his life. all the abuse he would endure, he would quickly take it out on anyone who crossed him the wrong way

this went on for quite some time, but, as sick as it sounded, cam didn’t have the heart to snitch on his father. he wasn’t a doctor, but he could tell he had some type of mental illness, and just add drugs and alcohol to that mix, and he was practically a mess. the only reason they weren’t kicked out of the house was because they owned the house, but most of the time, if not always, they were missing basic necessities like food, clean water or even toilet paper

his life was shit and he knew it, but again, he didn’t have the heart to snitch, even though he knew his dad didn’t love or want him, so, he put up with it. he took it ‘like a man’, as his father said. he did such a good job at hiding his bruises and avoiding talking about his private life

he basically mimicked what his father did to him and did the same thing to other kids. he knew it was wrong, because all the things his father did to him made him feel like shit, empty on the inside, the type of things you cry yourself to sleep with, and maybe that’s exactly why he was so fucking mean and violent to everyone – he wanted them to feel all the pain he was feeling. he didn’t think it was fair that kids his grade had such big houses, such great parents and loving siblings, pets, basically everything he wanted to have but lacked

the amount of times he was suspended from school before he was even ten years old was surprising. it was mostly just violence, but he also got in trouble for stealing and basic bullying. his teachers and basically everyone at school called him ‘the devils child’

he thought he could keep his secret going forever, but everything has to come to an end. he was being reprimanded by one of his teachers when she grabs him by the arm to take him out the room, to which he winces. long story short, but she found all his bruises, then realized he was covering up a bunch on his face with concealer

it was obvious he had a serious problem when she asked him ‘how did this happen?’ and his literal reply was ‘if you tell anyone about this, i’ll hurt you and your entire family’, before pushing her desk to the floor and running out before she could catch him

he thought it would all settle down after a while. he didn’t go to school the following days to avoid seeing her, but his encounter with her bought everything to light. after the fourth day of staying home, police raided his house and arrested his father, taking cam to a group home

instead of feeling relieved because he no longer had to put up with abuse, he got even angrier, if that was possible. he had to testify against his father and he was living with a bunch of people he didn’t even know. if his life was already shit before, it turned even shittier now

he basically became property of the government, a foster child, when he was thirteen years old. he was jumping from group home to group home, foster home to foster home, basically living a much more unstable life than he had with his father

he repeatedly blamed the teacher who snitched on him and even went as far as egging her house and slashing her tires ( crazy mf tbh ). he was getting into constant fights at his foster homes ( which resulted in him being transferred constantly ), stealing, and during this time, experimenting with drugs

as depressing as it sounds, but he was so young and constantly thinking about death. he fantasized the ways he would die, how it would happen, and he constantly asked himself what he did wrong in his past life to live the life he was living now. being a foster kid wasn’t a step up at all. if anything, the kids he lived with were more fucked up then he was. everyone had their own story and some serious trauma they carried with them. everyone acted out one way or another

for cam, it was drugs, violence, and crime. he was doing so much bullshit at such a young age, literally lived way more at his thirteen years than most people do by like, twenty five. his entire life was a fucking trip. he even went to juvie a good three times, and he was literally fucking thirteen

authorities deemed his father unfit to take care of him ( as if it wasn’t obvious ). however, it was revealed that his father had more mental health issues than cam thought. he had borderline personality disorder, or bpd, and was beginning to show signs of early dementia and possible schizophrenia, mostly psychosis. instead of putting him in prison, he was put in a mental asylum, which deeply depressed cam when finding out because he did that. even though it was probably the best thing that happened to him, he lived with constant guilt and blamed himself, despite knowing his father obviously needed professional help

it seemed like his life would remain crappy forever, like he would be stuck living the rest of his life in ukraine, probably in prison before he was even nineteen. luckily for cam though, authorities managed to track down a family member he had who was living in new york, his grandfather named eleazar, or his dad’s dad

cam didn’t even know he had a grandfather to begin with. he just assumed most people from his family were either dead, too old to care, or just didn’t want to meet him. he was even more surprised when he was told his grandfather wanted to take him to new york and legally adopt him, meaning he would leave behind everything he’s ever known

he was expecting his grandfather to be just as bad as his father was, but he would do anything to leave foster care, so he agreed to meet him

he was not expecting the man who wanted to adopt him to be the way he was. it was almost as if his father had been adopted, because he had absolutely nothing in common with his father ( or cam’s grandfather )

cam discovered a ton of things when he met his grandfather. for starters, he had absolutely no idea he was jewish at all. his father never practiced any type of religion and never told him anything about his family bg, so finding out his entire family from his father’s side was jewish was pretty shocking. he also discovered that his grandfather had been in ww2 ( literally ), in camp auschwitz in southern poland, from 1943 till the end of the war. he even had the tattoo he was forced to get when entering the camp when he was eight years old, basically a survivor. he was separated from his mother, father, and older sister and hasn’t seen or heard of them since, but suspects they’re all dead. when he was old enough, he moved from poland to ukraine

talking to the man fascinated cam in every sense of the word. it wasn’t just because he was his grandfather, but cam had truly never met anyone like him at all. he was basically everything that cam wanted to be, a survivor, a fighter, brave, genuine... the list of his good qualities were infinite. it took a while, but cam was finally moving to kingsboro, new york with his grandfather when he was fourteen years old, after he had officially become his legal guardian 

from there, life seemed to get a little better. he learned english and was taught hebrew by his grandfather, and he listened to his war stories every day and even asked him to repeat the ones he had already told. his grandfather was walking, living proof that the things cam had gone through were tough, sure, but they were nothing compared to what his grandfather lived through. in a way, the man gave him hope that things would eventually get better, and they definitely did

his bad ass tendencies never went away, but they certainly got a lot better since living with his grandpa, since his life was a lot more stable. he had a clean, spacious home, food, ac... could he really ask for more? 

with the help from his grandpa, he even agreed to go to therapy and speak with a psychologist about his issues. he was getting so much better, less angry, but there was still trauma there because how does one even get rid of that?

now, fast forward to high school and he’s, tragically, selling drugs for extra money, but not really doing anything hard, hard, mostly just dealing. on his senior ( or junior? ) year, he meets none other than ellie, basically the first girl he’s ever really loved, and of course, they start to date, fall madly in love, and she gets pregnant with his child

this is enough to make cam straighten out his act because unlike his father, he wants to be there for his kid. in his head, he’s thinking he’s going to marry this girl. he’s thinking they’re going to have a kid and live happily ever after, but, as always, tragedy hits and she has a miscarriage, which of course, devastates cam a lot

we all know how this goes tho 🤡  after some time, they seem to drift apart. cam really wants to make things work, but ellie throws herself in her school work and starts pulling away from him, resulting in their breakup six months after the miscarriage

he takes this harder then he should and goes to jersey to stay with a high school friend for a while, ghosting everyone ( minus his grandfather ) completely. this kind of triggers something inside him and he’s suddenly back to his old habits ( old habits die hard, huh? )

catch him selling drugs, fighting people and snorting ketamine like it’s candy, bitch! he hasn’t even hit rock bottom yet, but he’s definitely getting there. it was like the breakup and losing a kid makes him snap back to his old self. them drifting apart just further reminds him that everyone leaves him eventually for someone better, because he’s fucked up and unlovable. he constantly tells himself that his own mother and father never loved nor wanted him, so why would ellie? the most fucked up part is that he doesn’t even blame her for doing what she did, because he would have done the same if he was in her shoes

now he’s back in new york and he’s slowly but surely turning into a fucking ketamine junkie. he knows what drugs and alcohol did to his family, but he’s doing it anyways, because he doesn’t give not one single fuck tbh 😂

i feel like the only person he has that’s actually there for him is his grandfather, but the man is 86 years old. cam knows he doesn’t have long, and honestly? the day his grandfather dies is probably the day he actually does hit rock bottom, but we’ll wait for that day to come by lmfao

libra-scorpio cusp with hella more scorpio tendencies!! he’s a sneaky little fuck, and he can be super manipulative when he wants to be. also curses like a fucking sailor, saying ‘fuckin’ at least 6 times in one sentence LOL

he plays guitar and is actually really fucking good at it ( think like, john frusciante , david gilmour , dan auerbach, or even jimi hendrix ), he also writes poetry and short stories as a way to let out his frustrations, but he keeps this super lowkey. most people think he makes all his money from drug dealing, but a good amount of his money also comes from publishing guitar covers on youtube. he never shows his face and goes under the alias, trickfinger. he has 3 million subscribers on his channel, but no one knows its him

this is already superrr fucking long so i’m going to end it here, but i’m going to put his birthchart below this for some extra #tea

[jillian255-blog1]

Blog #5: Volver Analysis

Sole, Paula, and Raimunda

The 2006 drama, Volver, takes place near Madrid, Spain and captures the lives of Raimunda, her daughter Paula, and her sister Sole, as they deal with the recent passing of their Aunt Paula. Shortly before their Aunt Paula’s death, she confesses to the women that their late mother, Irene, (who had died in a fire years before with their father) had been taking care of her. The women dismiss this as a symptom of her dementia until their Aunt’s neighbor, Agustina, also claims to have heard Irene speaking which the sisters try to disregard. Sole then begins seeing Irene herself but tries to keep it a secret from Raimunda who is busy dealing with her vile husband’s murder.

Despite never having heard of this movie previously, I really enjoyed it. It was visually stunning in many scenes, offered interesting angles and perspectives, and had a very compelling plot. Honestly, I enjoyed the close relationship that Raimunda shared with her daughter, Paula, as it reminds me a lot of the relationship I have with my mother. The closeness and familiarity of the characters, in general, felt very safe and comforting; I almost feel as though I am part of the community when watching it.

The film’s budget was estimated to be around €7,450,000 while its total worldwide gross was about $85,585,000 (Volver). The director, Pedro Almodóvar, is famed for his movies whose topics have surrounded death, the complexities of sexual desire, violence, and sexual abuse. He has also won awards for his past works including an Academy Award for “Best Foreign-Language Film”, “Best Director” from the Cannes Film Festival, and “Best Original Screenplay” at the Oscars (Britannica). It is said that the prominent female characters and quirky small town in the film are meant to mimic the women and rural area Almodóvar was raised in during the 1950s and 60s (Holland, 2014). Almodóvar grew up during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco who’s reign over Spain involved the placement of civil codes that struck patriarchal tones and gave women limited rights. It was not until 1975 (close to Francisco Franco’s death) that restrictions were lifted and women could be recognized as the “head” of a family, procure assets, and receive passports without showing proof of marriage among other things (Miguel, Martínez, González, Vadell, Pérez, Diz, 2014). As the country has since grown to reflect an attitude that leans more closely towards gender equality, there is still an imbalance between men and women which is clearly evident in the media. This imbalance pertains to much of Spanish media in which men are represented more often than women and women are typically much younger (Miguel, et al, 2014). Almodóvar’s response to this involved creating a mostly female cast with characters of different ages to produce a film that is mainly female-centered. In this way, Volver both celebrates women and effectively blasts the notion that men need to be chiefly present in all Spanish media.

Raimunda Singing “Volver”

The film was released in 2006 and is about two hours in length. It was shot using a 35 mm Panavision Panaflex Millennium camera in Madrid, Spain (Volver). Almodóvar’s expressive use of color and interesting perspectives are used to dramatize scenes, draw viewers attention to certain aspects within a frame, or create a particular mood. This can be observed in the scene where Raimunda sings a song that her supposedly deceased mother taught her as a child during a party she is catering. The scene is powerful and full of emotion as Raimunda sings the song with passion and a noticeable sadness. Viewers can observe that this is a crucial scene based on the perspective of the shot that shows Raimunda in the center of the musicians and partygoers, as well as the vibrant colors that bring attention to her. Another part that utilizes perspective and color is the scene when Raimunda discovers her murdered husband. The camera is perched above her and she is seen standing over his bloodied body. With this angle, viewers have a similar view to the one that she has in that they can survey the entire situation from her viewpoint. Furthermore, Almodóvar’s use of color is important to note as the red pool of blood around the body expresses severity and presses for the viewers attention but Raimunda still manages to stand out thanks to her glaringly red sweater.

From an ethical perspective, the film should entertain the viewer in a way that does not disrespect or harm anyone in any way. The movie does not seem to perpetuate any commonly known stereotypes of the Latino culture. Some common stereotypes and generalizations include that Latinos are associated with crime, poverty, illegal immigration, and gangs which are ideas that are typically maintained through the media (Lester, 2013). Almodóvar clearly does not try to perpetuate any of these harsh and false Latino stereotypes through Volver. Instead, the film is a celebration of the Latino culture and people as he recreated a reality that closely resembles his childhood. However, Almodóvar does employ the Utilitarianism ethical principle to show the character’s real way of life while also maintaining their dignity. For instance, the main characters are not extremely well off, in that, there are a few scenes where Raimunda has to ask her neighbors to lend her food to cook with until she can pay them back for it. There is also a scene where Raimunda frets about her husband being laid off from his job. These subtle hints allude to the fact that Raimunda’s family has to work hard to make a living and are probably not wealthy. Almodóvar implemented Utilitarianism through his creative choice to build a family that has to work hard to stay afloat but also does not see money as a giant problem. Essentially, he chose to depict Raimunda’s family in a way that showed the character’s successes while also giving viewers a serious glimpse of their hardships (Lester, 2013).

In terms of semiotics, color is again an important aspect to pay attention to in the film. Not only is it implemented to create a particulate mood and draw the viewer’s attention to things, but it is also used to send messages. For instance, in the scene where Raimunda discovers her husband’s bloody body, she makes the risky decision to clean up the crime so her daughter does not go to jail. Raimunda cleans the murder by removing the knife from her husband’s stomach and wiping up his blood with paper towels and a mop. The extensive amount of blood in this scene is important as it is used to show the horrifying extent of the crime and to further deepen the severity of Raimunda's actions. Above all, the visual cue of color is used to counteract the film’s darker themes of murder, regret, sorrow, and death. The name of the movie, Volver, also carries a significant meaning as its literal translation means “to return”. This can be applied to any one of the scenarios played out within the film including, the women’s mother coming back into their lives after she was believed to be dead, their Aunt’s neighbor, Agustina’s, sad realization that her mother would never come back home, the eerie wind that reappears and brings with it uncertainty, and of course, Raimunda’s return to her mother in the end. In this way, “Volver” can have many meanings associated with it including one that reminds viewers that things will eventually return.

Irene and Raimunda

The film combines melodrama and realism to create a movie that would appeal not just to Latinos, but people all over the world. Volver depicts strong tones of family, solidarity, and warmth that pays homage to Latinos and their culturally rich heritage and customs. Death is a particularly important notion to the film that is played out in the beginning when the camera pans across a graveyard to show women who are busy cleaning gravestones. It is understood from this scene that tombstones are meant to be looked after by members of the departed’s family. Agustina even prepares for death by looking after her own gravestone which is a conventional practice in the town. Traditions and family values are carried on throughout the film taking precedence over all other aspects. Neighbors look after each other, lovers reunite, and families stay together. These instances are examples of the close familial bonds and relationships that Latino’s cherish and that Pedro Almodóvar cherished while growing up. Therefore, Volver is a reflection of this message that brings him back to his Spanish roots and connects the world with them too.

References:

Google Images

Gutiérrez San Miguel, B., Ibáñez Martínez, M. L., Carcedo González, R., Bujosa Vadell, L. M., del Pozo Pérez, M., & Martín Diz, F. (2014). Gender roles and the Spanish media, a three-decade-long comparative study. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 69, 213–228.

Holland, J. (2014, October 15). Volver. Retrieved from https://variety.com/2006/film/awards/volver-2-1200517470/

Lester, P. M. (2013). Visual communication: images with messages. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2019, September 21). Pedro Almodóvar. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pedro-Almodovar

Volver. (2006, March 17). Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0441909/

[brajeshupadhyay]

The simple tweaks that can prevent dementia (plus delicious recipes to help beat it)

Today, and every day, roughly 190 Britons will die from dementia – about 1,350 every week – and numbers are steadily and ominously rising.

It is by far our biggest killer, having overtaken heart disease five years ago as fatalities from heart attacks and strokes continue to decline. Within the next few years, more than one million Britons will be living with the degenerative brain condition.

It’s a statistic made all the more shocking when you consider that the dementia death toll is almost four times the number claimed each week at the moment by the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK.

But despite these grim figures there is hope, as the latest medical evidence suggests that whether you develop dementia is not simply down to fate.

Dementia, a degenerative brain condition, is by far our biggest killer, having overtaken heart disease five years ago as fatalities from heart attacks and strokes continue to decline

Although incurable, a staggering 40 per cent of cases could be prevented in the first place, according to a global report revealed at the Alzheimer’s Association International Congress last week.

Lifestyle factors, such as diet, lack of exercise – and even hearing loss – are responsible for a whopping 340,000 of Britain’s 850,000 dementia cases, says the report. The leading scientists behind the new study identified 12 risk factors that make us more likely to develop the disease. Crucially, it’s within our power to address each one of them if we want to stay healthy into old age.

The risks begin to mount in childhood, the report said, but even making small lifestyle changes into your 70s could have a significant impact.

The report represents a huge leap forward in the understanding of the disease. Three years ago, the same research group became the first to prove how much of dementia is preventable, revealing the role of obesity, smoking, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Hearing loss, if untreated, depression and too little exercise also contribute to an individual’s risk, while lack of education and social isolation were also factors flagged by the experts.

Now, three more avoidable dangers have been added to that list based on new data: traumatic head injury, air pollution and heavy alcohol consumption.

The authors, from The Lancet’s Commission on Dementia, a group of international experts, say the findings should be a wake-up call for us all, and urged everyone to take responsibility for their own health. They said: ‘Around 40 per cent of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by eliminating these risk factors.’ So what can we do? Well, making changes to diet and lifestyle has a significant effect, not just on reducing the chances of developing dementia but also keeping the mind sharper and younger.

Around 40 per cent of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by ‘eliminating risk factors’, such as giving up smoking, said experts (file photo)

A recent Swedish study found that being a healthy weight, keeping blood pressure in check and staying fit and active were three key factors found to significantly improve mental performance. More than 500 participants, aged 60 to 77, were advised to eat lots of fruit and vegetables, whole grains, fish and low-fat dairy, while exercise plans involved strength training at a gym plus group exercises to improve aerobic fitness, such as jogging and aerobics. 

The researchers followed them for two years and found they performed better in mental tests by the end, having boosted their overall health. Similar lifestyle changes were linked to a 37 per cent reduced dementia risk in another trial involving 3,000 volunteers. Indeed, just making a change to one area, such as giving up smoking, was found to have a big knock-on effect.

It’s something I take seriously, because I’ve seen first-hand how devastating dementia can be. I was 17 when my much-loved granny, Olive, died of the disease, aged 74, having spent two years being cared for by my mum, her only child, in our family home.

Olive suffered from Lewy body dementia, the second most common type after Alzheimer’s, accounting for ten to 15 per cent of cases. Looking back now, the risk factors described by The Lancet’s Commission were all there. My grandfather Jimmy, married to Olive for 40 years, collapsed and died from an aortic aneurism aged 65, just two weeks after retiring from his job as a draughtsman at the Rolls-Royce plant in East Kilbride, south of Glasgow. Her world fell apart. In time, neighbours moved on. Friends passed away.

Adored: Jo Macfarlane as a baby, sitting on granny Olive’s knee before her dementia set in. Olive suffered from Lewy body dementia, the second most common type after Alzheimer’s

A fall meant she feared going out and she spent a lot of time alone in her empty house, staring out of the window. She began to forget to eat.

When she came to live with us in Fife, 80 miles away on the opposite coast of Scotland, the warm, adoring woman who’d doted on my two younger sisters and me was vanishing, bit by bit.

Every morning the house was woken by her fearful wails ‘Help me! Help’, as she opened her eyes and, again, had no idea where she was. 

Living near a busy road increases the chance of dementia by 10%

Most painfully, she forgot she had a daughter or grandchildren. When it was explained to her gently one day, she sobbed bitterly: ‘No one ever told me I had a daughter.’

It’s a story that will no doubt resonate with thousands of British families, on whom the burden of care so often falls. 

The cost of treating and supporting the dementia population in the UK is £34.7 billion a year, and it’s set to nearly treble by 2040. Unpaid carers, like my mum, save the economy a further £13.9 billion a year.

Imagine if the emotional – and economic – burden could be lifted significantly. A one per cent reduction in dementia cases would mean 8,500 fewer people living with the disease. 

Eliminating all 12 risk factors, the report’s authors say, could save 340,000 from being struck by it – 40 per cent of the 850,000 people estimated to have dementia in the UK.

In this special Mail on Sunday Health section, we’ll explain how to reduce your risk – from looking at ways to combat heart disease and diabetes, to highlighting surprising methods of prevention, such as improving your hearing.

There is still much about dementia risk that science can’t explain, but there is cause for optimism. Armed with new knowledge, it’s never been more possible to alter the course of our later lives for the better.

Brain-boosting breakfasts

Crustless quiche with feta, peas and spinach

Bake for 30–35mins, or until just set and golden. Serve warm or cold (267 calories per serving)

SERVES 4

1 bagful fresh spinach, or 200g of frozen spinach, defrosted and with the excess water squeezed out

50g cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/GM 4. Fry the onion over a medium heat for 5-10mins, or until softened. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and stir in half the cheese, half the onions and season well.

Pour the egg mixture into a non-stick dish and scatter over the remaining onion as well as the peas, spinach and remaining cheese. Bake for 30–35mins, or until just set and golden.

Serve warm or cold, sliced into wedges.   

Peach and apricot breakfast pots

In 2 small glasses, layer the apricots and peaches, followed by yoghurt (305cal per serving)

SERVES 2

Toast the oats lightly in a pan on a low heat, stirring frequently, until they reach a golden colour (roughly 5mins).

In 2 small glasses, layer the apricots and peaches, followed by a layer of yogurt, followed by another layer of fruit, until you reach the top of the glass.

Top with a sprinkle of the toasted oats and nuts.

Banana and peanut butter overnight oats

In the morning, loosen with a little water or milk if needed (380 calories per serving)

SERVES 1

The night before, stir the skimmed milk and the cinnamon into your oats.

In the morning, loosen with a little water or milk if needed. Top with chopped banana, yogurt and a drizzle of peanut butter.

Blistered tomatoes on toast

Turn up the heat and allow tomatoes to sizzle until the skins start to blister (213cal per serving)

SERVES 1

Pinch of dried mixed herbs

1 large slice wholemeal or rye bread

Gently fry the garlic in 1 tsp of oil for 1min, then add the cherry tomatoes and mixed herbs. Turn up the heat and allow the tomatoes to sizzle until the skins start to blister.

Toast the bread and drizzle the remaining tsp of oil on the bread.

Place the tomatoes on top and season with salt and pepper.

Baked eggs with greens and yoghurt

Add the spinach and season with salt and pepper, then mix (343 calories per serving)

SERVES 2

1/2 100g pack of fresh spinach, or 80g frozen spinach, with water squeezed out

2 spring onions, chopped 

2 tbsp low-fat natural yogurt

2 slices rye or wholemeal bread, toasted

Heat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/GM 6. If using fresh spinach, put it in a colander, then pour over a kettle of boiling water to wilt the leaves.

Squeeze out excess water. In a large, oven-proof pan, heat the oil before frying off the spring onions for a couple of minutes until softened.

Add the spinach and season with salt and pepper, then mix. Make two small wells in the pan and crack in two eggs. Put the pan in the oven for 12-15mins, then serve with yogurt spooned on top, alongside the toast.

Life-enhancing lunches

Roast sweet potato stuffed with smoky black beans

Cut the cooked sweet potato in half and spoon the bean mixture inside (343cal per serving)

SERVES 2

1 tin black or kidney beans

Pinch of chilli powder (optional)

Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/GM 6. Pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork and roast for 45-60mins.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the garlic, paprika, cumin and chilli, if using. Cook for 1min. Add the drained beans, 50ml of water and a pinch of salt and pepper and stir thoroughly.

Cook until this is all warmed through. Remove from the heat and, just before serving, stir in the lime juice.

Cut the cooked sweet potato in half and spoon the bean mixture inside.

Meatballs and beans in tomato sauce

Place 4 meatballs in each bowl with sauce and serve alone, or with bread (450cal per serving)

SERVES 4

For the meatballs:

1 slice stale or toasted wholemeal bread

For the sauce:

1 red pepper, finely chopped

1 tin butter beans, or any other variety

Blitz the bread in a blender  to make breadcrumbs. Tip into a bowl and mix thoroughly with the beef, garlic, egg and seasoning.

Roll into small balls – about 16 – and place on a plate in the fridge. Gently fry the garlic for 1-2mins, then add the onion, pepper and courgette and fry for a further 5mins, until browned slightly.

Next, add the tomatoes, beans and purée. Fill the empty tin with water twice, add this to the mix and leave to simmer for 15mins.

In another pan, fry the meatballs for 12mins. Taste the sauce and check for seasoning.

Place 4 meatballs in each bowl with the sauce and serve alone, or with bread.

Buttery white beans and tuna

Add a final drizzle of oil and some chopped fresh herbs if you have any (329cal per serving)

SERVES 2

1 tin tuna in spring water

Pinch of dried mixed herbs

Chopped fresh herbs (optional)

Finely chop the garlic and fry in the olive oil for 2-3mins. Add the drained beans, salt and pepper and mixed herbs. Cook until warmed through. Finely chop the onion and drain the tuna and gently toss into the warmed mixture. 

Serve alongside one slice of toasted bread. Add a final drizzle of oil and some chopped fresh herbs if you have any.

Sardine, tomato and pepper pizzettes

Drizzle over sardine oil and place on middle shelf of oven for 15-25mins (391cal per serving)

SERVES 2

For the dough:

Half a sachet fast-acting dried yeast (4g)

For the topping:

8 cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 green or yellow pepper, chopped

4 black olives, finely chopped

Pinch of dried mixed herbs

Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/ GM 6. Make the dough by adding water to yeast and stirring until dissolved, then gradually pour wet mixture into flour and salt until it has dough consistency.

Mix together into a ball, then knead for 10mins before leaving dough to double in size for 30mins. Break off 4 palm-sized balls and leave remaining dough in fridge or freezer for later use.

Roll the 4 chunks of dough into mini pizzas and prick bases. Drain sardines but retain 1 tbsp oil.

Thinly spread tomato purée on bases, then add sardines, cherry tomatoes, peppers, chopped olives and herbs. Drizzle over sardine oil and place on middle shelf of oven for 15-25mins.

Chicken and roasted vegetable salad

Season with sprinkle of salt, then roast for 20-25m until chicken is cooked (531cal per serving)

SERVES 2

1 small red pepper, chopped

Large handful cherry tomatoes, halved

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

100g salad leaves or lettuce (any kind you like)

For the dressing:

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Heat oven to 210C/Fan 190C/GM 8. In a bowl, mix the chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, pepper, cherry tomatoes and olive oil until all is coated.

Put the chicken and vegetables in a baking tray that’s large enough so everything rests in a single layer. Season with sprinkle of salt, then roast for 20-25mins until chicken is cooked through.

When cooked, slice the thighs. Whisk dressing ingredients in a salad bowl, then add the chicken, vegetables and salad leaves. Mix well before serving.

Delectable dinners

Courgette and minty potato parmesan tart

Put in the centre of the oven for 25mins or until the egg has set (502 calories per serving)

SERVES 2

1/2 roll (160g) of ready-rolled puff pastry

4 new potatoes, boiled and sliced

1 courgette, sliced lengthways or in round slices

2 tsp fresh mint, chopped

Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/GM 6. Place the pastry on a lined, greased baking tray and fold the edges up and inwards to create a thin crust. Arrange the potato and courgette on the pastry, then gently pour the egg on top.

Sprinkle with the lemon zest and parmesan. Put in the centre of the oven for 25mins or until the egg has set and the crust is golden brown. Sprinkle with chopped mint.

Crunchy cod and sweet potato chips with smashed minty peas

Dip the cod fillets into the egg and roll in the breadcrumbs. Bake for 25m (520cal per serving)

SERVES 2

2 skinless fillets of cod

1 slice stale or toasted bread

Sprig of fresh mint, chopped

Preheat the oven to 220C/Fan 200C/GM 6. Chop the sweet potato into bitesize chunks, place in a baking dish, drizzle with oil and sprinkle on the paprika. Roast for 45mins.

Blitz the bread into crumbs and mix with a pinch of salt, pepper and the lemon zest. Dip the cod fillets into the egg and roll in the breadcrumbs. Bake for 25mins.

Boil the frozen peas until slightly overcooked, then gently mash with mint and butter. Squeeze the juice of the lemon on the fish.

Stuffed peppers with a ‘meaty’ mushroom filling

Top with the pepper ‘lids’, cover in foil and bake for 35-40mins (345 calories per serving)

SERVES 2

200g mushrooms (any kind), diced

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Heat the oven to 220C/Fan 200C/GM 7. Make breadcrumbs by blitzing the bread in a blender, or finely chopping. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the mushrooms for 5mins, until tender. 

Turn off the heat and add garlic, tomatoes, breadcrumbs, walnuts and pesto until thoroughly combined. Slice the top off the peppers and remove the seeds. Place in a roasting tin and spoon the mushroom filling into the pepper cavities. 

Top with the pepper ‘lids’, cover in foil and bake for 35-40mins.

Easy one-person paella

Stir the seafood mix into the pan and cover with a lid. Simmer for 5m (565 calories per serving)

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 sausage, divided into small balls (or a handful of chicken breast chunks)

1/2 tsp mixed dried herbs

75g brown rice, or paella rice if you can’t get brown

1 tbsp white wine (optional)

Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the sausage balls, onion and garlic for 8mins. Then add paprika, herbs and rice, stirring continuously. 

Splash in the wine and, once it has evaporated, stir in the chopped tomatoes and chicken stock. Season and cook for 10-15mins, stirring occasionally until rice is almost cooked. 

Stir the seafood mix into the pan and cover with a lid. Simmer for 5mins, or until the seafood is cooked through. Squeeze over the lemon juice.  

Chickpea and courgette parmigiana

Sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs and parmesan, then bake for 35-40m (422cal per serving)

SERVES 4

6 courgettes, sliced into 1cm lengths

2 balls mozzarella, sliced

50g parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/GM 6. Coat the courgette slices in oil and sear the slices in a pan for 3-4mins each side, then set aside.

In the same pan, cook the onion and garlic until soft. Heat the chopped tomatoes and chickpeas in a saucepan, adding the cooked onion mixture, salt and pepper and letting it bubble for a few minutes.

Spoon some of the tomato mixture into the base of an ovenproof dish, then layer with courgette and mozzarella. Repeat until all ingredients are used up.

Sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs and parmesan, then bake for 35-40mins until bubbling and golden brown on top.

Perfect puds  

Spiced compote with honey yogurt and nuts

Heat rhubarb in a small pan, using dessertspoon of syrup and a splash of water. Add cinnamon and allspice and simmer until rhubarb has disintegrated (222 calories per serving)

SERVES 2

1/2 tin of rhubarb in light syrup, or apples or pears

4 heaped tbsp low-fat Greek yogurt

Heat rhubarb in a small pan, using dessertspoon of syrup and a splash of water. Add cinnamon and allspice and simmer until rhubarb has disintegrated.

Allow to cool and serve with 2 tbsp yogurt each, a sprinkling of nuts and a drizzle of honey.

Chocolate mousse with raspberries

Fold in egg white – whisked to stiff peaks – followed by chocolate. Spoon mixture into 2 small glasses or espresso cups and put in fridge for at least 30mins (296 calories per serving)

SERVES 2

1/3 of a 100g bar of dark chocolate

3 tbsp low-fat Greek yogurt

Melt chocolate in a glass bowl, placed over a pan of boiling water. Add sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add half yogurt to the bowl and mix, then transfer to another bowl before stirring in the rest of the yogurt. 

Fold in egg white – whisked to stiff peaks – followed by chocolate. Spoon mixture into 2 small glasses or espresso cups and put in fridge for at least 30mins.

Serve alongside a handful of raspberries.

Tinned pear and nut crumble

Mix together, first with a spoon, then with your fingers, until you have a rough, crumbly mixture. Scatter over the peaches, then bake for 35mins (264 calories per serving)

SERVES 6

3 x 410g tinned pears in juice

1 tbsp sugar or sweetener

50g hazelnuts, or any nuts you like

Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/GM 6. Drain the pears, but reserve the juice. Tip pears & juice into a baking dish or 6 ceramic pots. In a bowl, mix flour, oats, butter, sugar, nuts and cinnamon. 

Mix together, first with a spoon, then with your fingers, until you have a rough, crumbly mixture. Scatter over the peaches, then bake for 35mins until golden and crunchy on top.

Home-made stracciatella gelato

After the last stir, melt the chocolate either slowly in a microwave, or in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water. While stirring the gelato, pour in the chocolate (174 calories per serving)

MAKES 10 PORTIONS

2-3 tbsp granulated sugar

The night before making the gelato, place a bowl in the freezer. Next day, pour the milk and sugar into a medium pot and heat gently, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has just dissolved.

Take off the heat and stir in cream, then let mixture cool before placing it in the bowl that’s been chilling in the freezer. Leave in fridge for 3hrs before transferring to freezer. Stir ice cream 3-4 times, roughly every 4hrs, to break up ice crystals – or use a blender.

After the last stir, melt the chocolate either slowly in a microwave, or in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water. While stirring the gelato, pour in the chocolate, then place in freezer for 30mins before serving.

The post The simple tweaks that can prevent dementia (plus delicious recipes to help beat it) appeared first on Shri Times News.

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[the-dyslexic-blogger]

who I copd wif dislexiya.

So I know the title is spelt wrong some of my awful humour hehe. But here you go my experience with having learning difficulties and how it affected me, My mental health and my work.

 So as you know I am dyslexic, it took me a lot of courage to make some blogs due to anxiety over spelling. I have an official diagnosis of dyslexia dyspraxia and Dyscalculia. Isn't it funny how all of those are spelt strangely hard for a dyslexic to wright and spell right? Haha yes, it sucks. In fact, I am probably only getting this right because of autocorrect love it. But fun fact I was never officially diagnosed in January of 2020 so all 20 years if my life no one has really supported me in this I knew I struggled with it a lot. No one at my school helped me with it whatsoever. I remember always being told to 'try harder' or 'you're not trying'. I always thought I was lazy or stupid back in primary school my handwriting was awful that was a big problem in my home life my parents and grandparents always told me off for this I a a lot of shit for it I couldn't help it my dyspraxia meant it took me longer to write less like a doctor I still do wright as bad as a doctor probably worse I don't know if a doctor could even read it, I can't half the time. One of the earliest memory's with writing, and handwritten stuff is in year 2 I had homework and my mum and dad kept making me re wright stuff over and over and over again until I got it right it really had a massive effect on my self-esteem and confidence I cried a lot I got it right in the end, But my family I didn't understand I am very surprised that my primary School never picked up on my dyslexic and other issues they didn't help me the only thing they ever did was move me down to year 4 when I was in year 6 for maths cuz I was shit Secondary wasn't much better they only gave me a year or two of English support which did help but not much I was told by them I might be dyslexic but wasn't diagnosed with it which is another very stupid thing. They should have how they didn't pick up on my dyspraxia and Dyscalculia I don't know probably cuz my school was shit and didn't actually care about the students within it well the learning support I got for a few years was amazing she was the most lovely tutor I had it was sad when she left, and I had no further assistance this had a massive effect on me being in the bottom set for every lesson I hated it I was with all the kids who bullied me all the kids who rather sit there take the piss out of anyone who was different and bully them rather than learning. Being dyslexic I needed to concentrate on things, and I only ever wanted to do well in school of course because I wanted to learn this was wrong and that's why I got bullied so much the whole bottom set used to make me feel like shit my mate at the time was in the top set and would go on and on about the grades (because I'm a dinosaur I used a,b and c grading, in fact, one of the last years to use the normal system) and id be getting shit grades, I wasn't getting help for my learning problems. Also I asked her for help with the bullying, and she said she didn't want to get involved not even to talk to her about it, that was an excellent friend so glad we don't talk anymore(Bitch.)

 I had little confidence in myself at this point in the year I wasn't smart like my friends, it took me longer to do stuff, so I'm stupid that's what I I always assumed my parents were constantly having a go at me for not doing well in anything I wasn't doing well in sports or academically due to my difficulties, it was tough for me to fit in no one understood.

 You know what I used to and still kinda annoys me I feel shit for admitting it when people moan about getting like A's and Cs because I could never get up to that standard and people would complain if they got a c, it would hurt me because I couldn't do it. Once I was sat with my friends, they as on about maths saying how there annoyed they got a high c grade. There was I sat there still with no math GCSE with in fact a shitty f thinking oh wow lucky you got a c.

 But that sucked anyways got off-topic so back on topic now sorry about that I don't even remember what I was talking about. #dyslexic moment or it could be my dementia is kicking in. (This part was written by a drunk dino, but I'm keeping it in because why the fuck not.)

 The first year of college wasn't too bad it was games design on the computer so didn't actually I have to do much with words. The college didn't know about my disability probably thought I was stupid like I did I still do believe this. Yet, afte the proper diagnosis of my disability, it was better I accept it a lot more than before. Nevertheless, the college was rough until the end where they were like" oh yeah by the way you will never get far without your maths there is no point you being on this course, So we decided to be shitheads and waste a year, oh. Here you go have more trauma and depression byeeeee" so long story short (you've heard this many many times sorry.)

 I moved and did software engineering in another college(For 2 years) they also didn't realise I was dyslexic. This was still having a massive effect on my mental state, I was 18 and id be told all my life I was lazy and wasn't trying hard enough, so it would make me feel bad. I realised I mentioned my Dyslexia a lot and mot my other ones but oh well.

 Towards the end of my college this tutor, I had come up to me. I said he'd read my assignment it was good. Still, he asked in the most delightful way possible if I was dyslexic as his daughter has it. My written work was much like hers. He got me some help. Sadly this was around the time my mental state got unbearable to attend anymore, so I do still thank that

guy.

 Coming to university is something I never thought id do I I always thought my maths work was too shit. I wasn't very confident in getting into uni, but oh well that was me being all negative and having a fuck ton of shit wrong with me. Once I got into this university, I was happy first thing I did in the week was getting a full-on diagnostic of my learning difficulties. As I was fed up of living under the shadows of your not good enough or stuff like this and you're not trying. Also fun fact I have a mental health mentor for my depression and she used to claim that I was lazy and wasn't dyslexic so that was a lot of fun yay... So September I got a appoint for January the wait then I had that and was fully diagnosed with Dyslexia dyspraxia and Dyscalculia. Also doing musical theatre really helped me with my dyspraxia. I never told anyone I was there, but it helped me a lot with my coordination.

 For those who don't know what these are you probably know dyslexia but the other two maybe I'm assuming okay (digs hole deeper) imma shut and explain before I dig more of a hole.

 Anyways for Dyslexia the definition is "Dyslexia is a learning disorder that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words (decoding). Also called reading disability, Dyslexia affects areas of the brain that process language."

 Dyscuaulia on google is explained as "Dyscalculia is a math learning disability that impairs an individual's ability to represent and process numerical magnitude in a typical way. Dyscalculia is sometimes called "number dyslexia" or "math dyslexia." Dyspraxoca is on google is explained as" Developmental coordination disorder (DCD), also known as dyspraxia, is a condition affecting physical coordination. It causes a child to perform less well than expected in daily activities for their age, and appear to move clumsily.

    Of course, this is only what google says each person is different and with different symptoms and mild or bad. For example, the guy who interviewed (is it an interview probably not but oh well ) said he was very surprised that no one had picked up on it as my Dyslexia was very bad so was the rest he was very annoyed at all of my schools and colleges so am I if they would have picked upon it I wouldn't have struggled so much and wouldn't be so hard on myself with the fact that I can't write or read. It was a rough upbringing with my parents are always putting pressure on me to achieve when I simply can't do it.

 I can't read well or write well it was a very very rough system I still haven't fully accept myself I still don't ask anyone to read my blogs proofread because I don't feel comfortable to do so, I would like to, but they have more important things to do rather than read through

my shitty ass writing.

 So there you go another blog that's way longer than it should be. Still, these blogs take a lot of effort it goes from word to grammer.ly to word so it can read it to me then back into Grammarly its a long process but here is the blog about me. There are a lot of famous people with these difficulties a lot more than you realise google it it's interesting and made me feel less alone it's more common than you think my therapist is dyslexic its awesome meeting fellow dyslexics or Dyscalculia or dyspraxias.

 I also added some links below for helpful resources for dyslexia dyscalculia and dyspraxia.

 Dyslexia

 https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dyslexia/living-with/

 https://www.nessy.com/uk/teachers/essential-teaching-tips-dyslexia/

dyspraxia

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/developmental-coordination-disorder-dyspraxia-in-adults/

 https://dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/dyspraxia-adults/

 dyscalculia

https://www.readandspell.com/dyscalculia-in-adults

 https://safespot.org.uk/safespotopedia/dyslexia-dyscalculia/

 Love Dino the Dyslexic

Blogger xx

[tomheidiusa]

Dr Justin Bharat Talks About Using VR For Healthcare Training

Healthcare training plays a vital role today, and there are many ways of achieving this, but as technology advances, there is a need to take advantage of what is available. Online healthcare training has come on in leaps and bounds recently and obviously, this brings in many opportunities to advance this with new technology.

VR has already been used in areas such as Dementia Training for allowing carers to understand this illness better and we are looking at now bring VR to the surgery training spectrum.

This all really started for me way back when I was in high school and I was originally interested in video game development and around that time there was some illness in my family and it got me interested that maybe there’s a way to use software and technology which I was so passionate about to help people specifically with medical problems.

Then in college, I was studying biomedical engineering and my mentor had some pretty sage advice for me and he suggested that if I wanted to invent technology, that it’s best to understand the problems. So he thought the best way to do that in medicine was to be a physician. I followed his advice and I went to medical school at UCLA and then I stayed there to pursue my orthopaedic surgery training and subsequently also some specialized training in pediatric orthopaedics at Boston Children’s Hospital and it was during my training that I really discovered the biggest problem I feel is facing our healthcare system today. That’s how we train educate and assess our providers.

It was experiencing this problem and seeing it every day that led me to basically combine my passion for game development to try and solve this problem with virtual reality.

So then I thought, well what would you say is the most challenging aspect of the traditional training that we do with our doctors and surgical teams. What is it that is lacking that could improve the patient experience?

There are many challenges and it really depends on who you are and where you’re at in your career. If you’re talking about residents and training, the issue that they have is that there is just too much to learn and too little time to learn it, so it’s kind of basic math really. If you think about it every year, we are discovering new science, new medicine, new procedures and new technologies and devices and these, in general, are not replacing something but adding on, so added additional things we need to know and not only are there more procedures that we need to learn now but these new products tend to be more complicated.

If you think about it there are things like robotic surgery or image-guided navigation patient-specific implants, maybe people have heard of some of these things but whereas we used to be able to learn these new techniques that meant a few surgeries on patients, now these new techniques have data that sometimes you have to do it more than a hundred times on people before you can do it safely and up until then it’s much riskier, and in addition to that, there’s much less time to learn.

With residents, there were work hour restrictions imposed which were quite reasonable but now I’m a researcher – working only 80 hours a week and that lost a year of training time. Certain administrative tasks like electronic medical record system have shown up to now take up over 50% of residents and other physicians time.

Then there are cultural changes where people are now much more aware of who is operating on them, who are touching them when they’re in the hospital or the clinic and they’re less inclined for obvious reasons to have people practising on them for the first time.

For most of us the term virtual reality is pretty self-explanatory, but for those of us who aren’t familiar or intimately familiar with the term, what is virtual reality or VR as it’s commonly referred to? I think that’s a great question and I think the term itself has changed over the years but virtual reality in today’s day and age really refers to an immersive kind of interactive media experience in which the user will wear a handset so that looks almost like ski goggles that you put on your head and in front of you are special lenses for your eyes and then a screen, and within the headset are motion sensors and also some sort of tracking system to track the position and rotation of your head.

Once you put this headset on you are looking into a virtual world that feels like you’re actually there, and this is called a sense of presence. Wherever you look and wherever you move you will move within that virtual world and it’s almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

Additionally, VR can have what’s called motion control so high quality via or tether VR will have one to one hand tracking so you can interact with the virtual world. With your hands, you can pick up objects for surgical simulation and can perform the procedure like hammering filling incisions and things like this so this is a critical component of modern VR that really enhances the immersiveness and interactivity.

There’s also the multiplayer aspect of it where many doctors or surgical teams are able to log into a program and are able to train virtually no matter where they are on the planet.

We recently announced our collaborative training functionality so we’ve had up to 15 people in our virtual reality training experiences and they’ve been all over the world, so we’ve had people from the east coast of the west coast USA, from the UK and other places, all in virtual reality training together and it’s really fun and exciting and very intuitive and natural.

This allows you to do is you can learn with teams without people having to travel or find time to get together in the same physical location and you can also capture expertise so you can have a world-renowned experts who live very far away able to train you personally in these very advanced techniques and you can bring this incredible knowledge set to very remote and rural areas that may not have had access to advanced surgical training in education and assessment before.

Another important aspect to team training that is a benefit of simulation within healthcare recently is what is called soft skills of leadership communication general workflow and efficiency and these are so critical for patient safety and this team training really gives you the ability to not only train but also evaluate teams and how they perform.

As you can see, the opportunities for VR in the healthcare market are boundless and we are very excited with the opportunities that VR represents worldwide.

  from https://serenemedia.co.uk/dr-justin-bharat-talks-about-using-vr-for-healthcare-training/

from Serene Media - Blog http://serenemediaco.weebly.com/blog/dr-justin-bharat-talks-about-using-vr-for-healthcare-training

[alicebrauceca]

Dr Justin Bharat Talks About Using VR For Healthcare Training

Healthcare training plays a vital role today, and there are many ways of achieving this, but as technology advances, there is a need to take advantage of what is available. Online healthcare training has come on in leaps and bounds recently and obviously, this brings in many opportunities to advance this with new technology.

VR has already been used in areas such as Dementia Training for allowing carers to understand this illness better and we are looking at now bring VR to the surgery training spectrum.

This all really started for me way back when I was in high school and I was originally interested in video game development and around that time there was some illness in my family and it got me interested that maybe there’s a way to use software and technology which I was so passionate about to help people specifically with medical problems.

Then in college, I was studying biomedical engineering and my mentor had some pretty sage advice for me and he suggested that if I wanted to invent technology, that it’s best to understand the problems. So he thought the best way to do that in medicine was to be a physician. I followed his advice and I went to medical school at UCLA and then I stayed there to pursue my orthopaedic surgery training and subsequently also some specialized training in pediatric orthopaedics at Boston Children’s Hospital and it was during my training that I really discovered the biggest problem I feel is facing our healthcare system today. That’s how we train educate and assess our providers.

It was experiencing this problem and seeing it every day that led me to basically combine my passion for game development to try and solve this problem with virtual reality.

So then I thought, well what would you say is the most challenging aspect of the traditional training that we do with our doctors and surgical teams. What is it that is lacking that could improve the patient experience?

There are many challenges and it really depends on who you are and where you’re at in your career. If you’re talking about residents and training, the issue that they have is that there is just too much to learn and too little time to learn it, so it’s kind of basic math really. If you think about it every year, we are discovering new science, new medicine, new procedures and new technologies and devices and these, in general, are not replacing something but adding on, so added additional things we need to know and not only are there more procedures that we need to learn now but these new products tend to be more complicated.

If you think about it there are things like robotic surgery or image-guided navigation patient-specific implants, maybe people have heard of some of these things but whereas we used to be able to learn these new techniques that meant a few surgeries on patients, now these new techniques have data that sometimes you have to do it more than a hundred times on people before you can do it safely and up until then it’s much riskier, and in addition to that, there’s much less time to learn.

With residents, there were work hour restrictions imposed which were quite reasonable but now I’m a researcher – working only 80 hours a week and that lost a year of training time. Certain administrative tasks like electronic medical record system have shown up to now take up over 50% of residents and other physicians time.

Then there are cultural changes where people are now much more aware of who is operating on them, who are touching them when they’re in the hospital or the clinic and they’re less inclined for obvious reasons to have people practising on them for the first time.

For most of us the term virtual reality is pretty self-explanatory, but for those of us who aren’t familiar or intimately familiar with the term, what is virtual reality or VR as it’s commonly referred to? I think that’s a great question and I think the term itself has changed over the years but virtual reality in today’s day and age really refers to an immersive kind of interactive media experience in which the user will wear a handset so that looks almost like ski goggles that you put on your head and in front of you are special lenses for your eyes and then a screen, and within the headset are motion sensors and also some sort of tracking system to track the position and rotation of your head.

Once you put this headset on you are looking into a virtual world that feels like you’re actually there, and this is called a sense of presence. Wherever you look and wherever you move you will move within that virtual world and it’s almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

Additionally, VR can have what’s called motion control so high quality via or tether VR will have one to one hand tracking so you can interact with the virtual world. With your hands, you can pick up objects for surgical simulation and can perform the procedure like hammering filling incisions and things like this so this is a critical component of modern VR that really enhances the immersiveness and interactivity.

There’s also the multiplayer aspect of it where many doctors or surgical teams are able to log into a program and are able to train virtually no matter where they are on the planet.

We recently announced our collaborative training functionality so we’ve had up to 15 people in our virtual reality training experiences and they’ve been all over the world, so we’ve had people from the east coast of the west coast USA, from the UK and other places, all in virtual reality training together and it’s really fun and exciting and very intuitive and natural.

This allows you to do is you can learn with teams without people having to travel or find time to get together in the same physical location and you can also capture expertise so you can have a world-renowned experts who live very far away able to train you personally in these very advanced techniques and you can bring this incredible knowledge set to very remote and rural areas that may not have had access to advanced surgical training in education and assessment before.

Another important aspect to team training that is a benefit of simulation within healthcare recently is what is called soft skills of leadership communication general workflow and efficiency and these are so critical for patient safety and this team training really gives you the ability to not only train but also evaluate teams and how they perform.

As you can see, the opportunities for VR in the healthcare market are boundless and we are very excited with the opportunities that VR represents worldwide.

from Serene Media https://serenemedia.co.uk/dr-justin-bharat-talks-about-using-vr-for-healthcare-training/ from Serene Media https://serenemedia.tumblr.com/post/184032814420

[serenemedia]

Dr Justin Bharat Talks About Using VR For Healthcare Training

Healthcare training plays a vital role today, and there are many ways of achieving this, but as technology advances, there is a need to take advantage of what is available. Online healthcare training has come on in leaps and bounds recently and obviously, this brings in many opportunities to advance this with new technology.

VR has already been used in areas such as Dementia Training for allowing carers to understand this illness better and we are looking at now bring VR to the surgery training spectrum.

This all really started for me way back when I was in high school and I was originally interested in video game development and around that time there was some illness in my family and it got me interested that maybe there’s a way to use software and technology which I was so passionate about to help people specifically with medical problems.

Then in college, I was studying biomedical engineering and my mentor had some pretty sage advice for me and he suggested that if I wanted to invent technology, that it’s best to understand the problems. So he thought the best way to do that in medicine was to be a physician. I followed his advice and I went to medical school at UCLA and then I stayed there to pursue my orthopaedic surgery training and subsequently also some specialized training in pediatric orthopaedics at Boston Children’s Hospital and it was during my training that I really discovered the biggest problem I feel is facing our healthcare system today. That’s how we train educate and assess our providers.

It was experiencing this problem and seeing it every day that led me to basically combine my passion for game development to try and solve this problem with virtual reality.

So then I thought, well what would you say is the most challenging aspect of the traditional training that we do with our doctors and surgical teams. What is it that is lacking that could improve the patient experience?

There are many challenges and it really depends on who you are and where you’re at in your career. If you’re talking about residents and training, the issue that they have is that there is just too much to learn and too little time to learn it, so it’s kind of basic math really. If you think about it every year, we are discovering new science, new medicine, new procedures and new technologies and devices and these, in general, are not replacing something but adding on, so added additional things we need to know and not only are there more procedures that we need to learn now but these new products tend to be more complicated.

If you think about it there are things like robotic surgery or image-guided navigation patient-specific implants, maybe people have heard of some of these things but whereas we used to be able to learn these new techniques that meant a few surgeries on patients, now these new techniques have data that sometimes you have to do it more than a hundred times on people before you can do it safely and up until then it’s much riskier, and in addition to that, there’s much less time to learn.

With residents, there were work hour restrictions imposed which were quite reasonable but now I’m a researcher – working only 80 hours a week and that lost a year of training time. Certain administrative tasks like electronic medical record system have shown up to now take up over 50% of residents and other physicians time.

Then there are cultural changes where people are now much more aware of who is operating on them, who are touching them when they’re in the hospital or the clinic and they’re less inclined for obvious reasons to have people practising on them for the first time.

For most of us the term virtual reality is pretty self-explanatory, but for those of us who aren’t familiar or intimately familiar with the term, what is virtual reality or VR as it’s commonly referred to? I think that’s a great question and I think the term itself has changed over the years but virtual reality in today’s day and age really refers to an immersive kind of interactive media experience in which the user will wear a handset so that looks almost like ski goggles that you put on your head and in front of you are special lenses for your eyes and then a screen, and within the headset are motion sensors and also some sort of tracking system to track the position and rotation of your head.

Once you put this headset on you are looking into a virtual world that feels like you’re actually there, and this is called a sense of presence. Wherever you look and wherever you move you will move within that virtual world and it’s almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

Additionally, VR can have what’s called motion control so high quality via or tether VR will have one to one hand tracking so you can interact with the virtual world. With your hands, you can pick up objects for surgical simulation and can perform the procedure like hammering filling incisions and things like this so this is a critical component of modern VR that really enhances the immersiveness and interactivity.

There’s also the multiplayer aspect of it where many doctors or surgical teams are able to log into a program and are able to train virtually no matter where they are on the planet.

We recently announced our collaborative training functionality so we’ve had up to 15 people in our virtual reality training experiences and they’ve been all over the world, so we’ve had people from the east coast of the west coast USA, from the UK and other places, all in virtual reality training together and it’s really fun and exciting and very intuitive and natural.

This allows you to do is you can learn with teams without people having to travel or find time to get together in the same physical location and you can also capture expertise so you can have a world-renowned experts who live very far away able to train you personally in these very advanced techniques and you can bring this incredible knowledge set to very remote and rural areas that may not have had access to advanced surgical training in education and assessment before.

Another important aspect to team training that is a benefit of simulation within healthcare recently is what is called soft skills of leadership communication general workflow and efficiency and these are so critical for patient safety and this team training really gives you the ability to not only train but also evaluate teams and how they perform.

As you can see, the opportunities for VR in the healthcare market are boundless and we are very excited with the opportunities that VR represents worldwide.

  from Serene Media https://serenemedia.co.uk/dr-justin-bharat-talks-about-using-vr-for-healthcare-training/

[oselatra]

2019 Arkansas Times Academic All-Star Team

Meet the best and brightest high school seniors in the state.

The 2019 Arkansas Times Academic All-Star Team, the 25th team the Times has honored, is made up of coders, musicians, scientists and championship athletes. There's rarely a B on the transcripts of these students in not just this, their senior year, but in any year of their high school careers.

Back in 1995, the Times created the Academic All-Star Team to spotlight what we then called "the silent majority — the kids who go to school, do their homework (most of it, anyway), graduate and go on to be contributing members of society." Too often, we argued then, all Arkansans heard about young people was how poorly they were faring. Or, when students did get positive attention, it came for athletic achievement.

As you read profiles of this year's All-Stars, it should be abundantly clear that good things are happening in Arkansas schools and there are many academic achievers who deserve to be celebrated. You should get a good idea, too, of how these stellar students are busy outside school, with extracurricular activities, volunteer work, mission activities and more.

They'll be honored April 26 at a ceremony at UA Little Rock's new River Market campus with plaques and cash awards.

Many college plans listed here are not set in stone, as students await information on scholarships and acceptances.

MOHAMMED ABUELEM Age: 16 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Pulaski Academy Parents: Tarek Abuelem and Shireen Khalaf College plans: Harvard University

What accomplishments can a 16-year-old lay claim to? Mohammed Abuelem has earned prizes in competitions in science, essay writing, History Day projects, Spanish, math. He's studied DNA sequencing at Harvard; researched the effect of radiation on soybeans; aced all his classes at Pulaski Academy. But this teenager, two years younger than his classmates and fluent in Arabic, can also point to work with Syrian refugees in camps in Jordan for two summers running. After his sophomore year, Mohammed volunteered at the Zaatari refugee camp in the northern part of Jordan, where 60,000 people have taken refuge. There, he interviewed families and visited the medical clinics. He listened "to their stories and how their life is at the camp. ... I got the chance to see how medicine is practiced toward people who are part of a diaspora." He returned to Jordan after his junior year and distributed food and supplies to Syrian refugee families in the capital, Amman. "So many of the refugees are relocated toward urban areas, and don't get as many benefits" as those in the camps, Mohammed said. Mohammed decided to bring the lessons of the crisis home: "I wanted to involve local people here." So, he organized a benefit piano recital where he and others played (he performed a piece by the Greek composer Yanni) and raised $5,000 from the audience. Half the sum went to the Syrian Emergency Task Force and the other half to his Boy Scout Eagle project, building first-aid and hygiene kits for Syrian refugees. Because the Middle East is his passion, his senior thesis (in an elective class at Pulaski Academy) is on the Arab Spring and, because he is fluent, he was able to use primary sources in Arabic. As he heads to college, Mohammed is unsure of exactly where he'll put his considerable brain power to work. Though keen on many subjects, Mohammed's favorite is biology. His father, a neurosurgeon at CHI St. Vincent Infirmary, "has emphasized that he wants me to choose the right path for me," rather than mirror his father's career, Mohammed said.

CHLOE BOWEN Age: 18 Hometown: Fayetteville High School: Springdale High School Parents: Yancey and Ginger Bowen College plans: University of Arkansas at Fayetteville or University of Alabama

The last thing most high school students want to do just a few weeks before the start of their senior year is switch schools. For Chloe Bowen, though, the decision to transfer from Fayetteville High School, where she'd gone since ninth grade, to Springdale High School for her final year wasn't particularly difficult. Many of her friends had already graduated, and Chloe's burgeoning interest in engineering drew her to Springdale High's Engineering and Architecture Academy. "I was ready for a change — [a] new challenge," she said. She's certainly found it. Chloe signed up for four engineering classes, one of which has her working with a group of engineering students from the University of Arkansas to design a device that will allow one of Chloe's classmates, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, to walk across the stage at graduation. "Getting to collaborate with them has been a really great experience," she said. Chloe traces her interest in engineering to a human geography class she took in ninth grade, where she learned about urban development and city planning. She's not sure what type of engineering she'll settle on — for now, it's all about exploration and learning about a career that will draw on both her math-loving analytical side and her artistic interests. Chloe has flourished in Springdale's engineering and architecture academy. She's a National Merit Finalist, ranked first in her class with a 4.27 GPA, and she's developed a tight-knit group of new friends who share her interests. She recently helped run a STEM day for younger students and has represented the engineering and architecture academy at area junior highs.

Chloe is also active in her church youth group and has a part-time job working in another church's nursery. That doesn't leave much time for other hobbies. "I used to play volleyball, but I don't anymore," she said. "I've been pretty busy with homework and projects lately."

JORDAN ERICKSON Age: 18 Hometown: Hot Springs High School: Lake Hamilton High School Parent: Mandy Farmer College plans: Baylor University

Jordan Erickson is the big man on Lake Hamilton High School's campus. He's the class president, the valedictorian and a National Merit Semifinalist. He's also 6-foot-10 and was the captain of the basketball team, which went 25-3 and won its conference. "It meant a lot [to be captain] because I'd been playing basketball with these guys since fifth grade," Jordan said. While this season marks the end of his basketball career, look for him in pick-up games at Baylor University, where he'll be a University Scholar, a competitive program that generally accepts fewer than 2 percent of incoming Baylor students. The Scholars program will allow him to pursue an individualized course of study. Jordan is planning on studying one area in science, likely biology, and one in the humanities, likely Spanish. He plans to be a doctor and figures that knowing Spanish could be beneficial. He doesn't know what sort of doctor he wants to be, but has gotten some experience working with seniors with neurodegenerative diseases as a volunteer with The Caring Place, a day center for patients suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia. "The people there were just absolutely loving and caring, the staff as well as the patients," he said. "It was heartwarming and heartbreaking as well." Jordan's mom, Mandy Farmer, is a nurse practitioner. He resisted following in her footsteps for years, he said, but as he's gotten older he's realized what an inspiration she's been. She instilled in him a motto that he's obviously applied: "There is no penalty for overachievement."

KATE FREYALDENHOVEN  Age: 18 Hometown: Conway High School: Conway High School Parents: Tim and Mary Ann Freyaldenhoven College plans: Rhodes College in Memphis

Kate Freyaldenhoven is competitive. Ranked second in her class at Conway High School, she said she was driven to "achieve the highest grades" in all her courses by the same ambition that earned her spots on the school's varsity cross-country and track teams. She has a 4.42 grade point average, and she said it's this "kind of tenacity" that earned her the perfect score of a 36 on the ACT. After two attempts that earned her a 33 and a 34, Kate said, "I pushed myself to do the best that I can do, and I'm very glad that I took it again." She's taking this tenacity to Rhodes College in Memphis, where she recently signed to run on its cross-country and track and field team. Kate said she decided on Rhodes because she knew she wanted to run in college, but her education was most important, and she wanted to go to a school that "was great with balancing academics and athletics." She said Rhodes felt like a "great fit" for her, and she'll be able to grow "not only as a student, but as an athlete." Another crucial part of her decision to attend Rhodes is the "plethora" of community service organizations the school offers. Kate said that as a kid, her mother took her along when doing service work for nonprofits, and since then, volunteering has been "a really big part of my life." Two summers ago, Kate also participated in the Community Health Applied in Medical Public Service program at Conway Regional Hospital, where she "witnessed firsthand different aspects of working in the medical field." She said she's interested in pursuing a medical career, perhaps as a physician, so she can use her "passion for science and math to contribute something beneficial." Kate said she's looking forward to research and internship opportunities in Memphis and to the "close-knit community" she said she felt on Rhodes' campus.

MARY JIA Age: 17 Hometown: Stuttgart High School: Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts Parents: Melissa and Yulin Jia College plans: Undecided

Mary Jia knows what she wants to do, and what she wants to do is study rice. "Rice is so amazing!" she said, with an enthusiasm so genuine she'll make you excited about rice, too. She said it's a model genome to study in plant science, and she's particularly interested in the "biological sciences and the numerology behind rice." Mary has applied to 16 different schools, but her top choice is the California Institute of Technology, where her favorite physicist, Sean M. Carroll, works as a professor. She said she plans on studying rice by pursuing an M.D.-Ph.D., a combined doctorate of medicine and philosophy, which can take between seven and nine years to complete. "With an M.D., you learn a little bit of everything, which is basically my goal in life," Mary said. "And a Ph.D. is more specific." Mary's research at the Harry K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center earned her a semifinalist spot in the Regeneron Science Talent Search. She's the only finalist from Arkansas. Her project studied the blast disease resistance of three strains of rice, a process through which Mary said she hopes to find "resistance genes" to help keep farmers from having to use fungicides on their rice crops. During a recent trip to visit family in China, Mary was able to appreciate the opportunities she's had to study her passion. "I really want my family to one day be able to enjoy the same things that I do, to go out in the world and realize they can be whatever they want," she said. Ranked No. 1 in her class at Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, Mary is also a member of the school's Grandma Club, which teaches "relaxing" skills such as knitting — Mary's specialty — and origami to the "future grandmas of America."

ISABELLE FLORENCE JONES Age: 18 Hometown: Jonesboro High School: The Academies at Jonesboro High School Parents: Robert and Mary Kay Jones College plans: Boston College

Isabelle Jones has been called "Dizzy Izzy" since she was a little girl, thanks to the energy she displayed in trying to keep up with her two big sisters. But Izzy, as she likes to be called, could also be called "Busy Izzy" because of the many school leadership positions she holds — student council president, National Honor Society treasurer, Spanish Honor Society president, to name a few — and other academic honors. She's No. 1 in her class. She swims, she runs cross-country. She volunteers at St. Bernards Hospital and the Hispanic Center. She's known, she said, as "that liberal person" at school because of her progressive views on gun control. Izzy said the most significant achievement of her high school career was organizing, as head of the local Students Demand Action chapter, the March for Our Lives last year. Calling "Show me what democracy looks like!" into her bullhorn, Izzy and other organizers led 200 people from Jonesboro High to the courthouse. The speakers included a survivor of Jonesboro's Westside Middle School shooting in 1998, in which two boys shot and killed five people and injured 10 others. Izzy spoke, too, about those who would shift the conversation away from guns and onto mental illness. "I spoke to the fact that someone who suffers from mental illness is more likely to be a victim" of gun violence than to cause it, she said. "People use it as a scapegoat." Because the Students Demand Action members were too young to get a permit for the march, the local Moms Demand Action helped out. "The Moms were so amazing; they let us take control of what we wanted to say," Izzy said. If you are an activist in a "big city," Izzy said, you can "talk to your elected officials and not get the door shut in your face. Here, to talk about gun control, it's a nonstarter, because people think it means you're going to take their guns away." So, Izzy's group focuses on having a community presence, participating in fairs and writing letters. Izzy is ready for big-city life and wants to pursue studies in global health, which is why she applied early decision to Boston College, which plans to offer a major in the field. Boston College has offered Izzy a Gabelli Presidential Scholars scholarship, which is a full-tuition award and goes to only 15 incoming freshmen every year. After college, the plan is med school and, someday, travel to help people in need of medical care with Doctors Without Borders.

JEREMIA LO Age: 18 Hometown: Fayetteville High School: Fayetteville High School Parents: Hsiaowen Cho and Wenjuo Lo College plans: Undecided

Jeremia Lo found her high school niche with Connotations, Fayetteville High School's annual literary magazine, where she serves as design director. When she joined the staff as a junior, she discovered a community of people who enjoy writing, art and photography as much as she does. Digital art has been a passion ever since her dad installed Adobe Photoshop on the family's computer when she was 10 years old. "Years of practice — setting aside time on the weekends to do photostudies and learn color theory — eventually turned jagged lines and irregular proportions into realistic portrayals of faces and creatures," Jeremia wrote in her Academic All-Stars essay. "Via the versatility of digital art — a medium that easily allows me to dabble in design, animation and drawing — I've been able to practice my communication skills by analyzing how details and the big picture work together to convey meaning to viewers." In the short run, thanks to those skills, she's made some spending money doing commissioned portraits and seen the designs for clubs and classes that show up all over the school. Longer term, she's considering a career in UI/UX (user interface/experience) design. To that end, she's planning on majoring in cognitive science or psychology to help her think about how people process design. But art isn't her only passion. While maintaining a 4.37 GPA and a No. 1 rank in her senior class of more than 500 students, she also found time to serve as publicist for the World Language Club and to co-found the Fayetteville High School History Club, realizing "that there are many important events in history that are often overlooked in our curriculum." She grew up in a Mandarin-speaking family, has taken five years of German and is studying Japanese on her own. Spanish, French and Korean are on her to-learn list.

TYLER MERREIGHN Age: 17 Hometown: Greenwood High school: Greenwood High School Parents: Ty and Josie Merreighn College plans: Undecided

When Tyler Merreighn auditioned for "Jeopardy!" last summer, he was coming in with over seven years of trivia experience: He's been on a Quiz Bowl team since he was in third grade. He's now captain of Greenwood High School's team, and in 2018 he led it to a second-place finish at the 6A Arkansas Governor's Quiz Bowl Association. While he didn't make the final cut for the game show, he said he would definitely try out again, and next time he'll be "a little more prepared." He'll have to find time to do that while majoring in biomedical engineering on a pre-med path. He hopes to attend the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he's applied for the prestigious Bodenhamer Fellowship, which awards a select group of students $70,000 scholarships over the course of their education. During an educational trip to Peru with his high school in the summer of 2017, Tyler said he visited a community in Cusco and loved "seeing [the children's] faces light up when you could do something so simple for them," like playing a game of soccer. This experience helped him realize that "whatever I do, I definitely want to be able to help people." Last summer he attended the two-week Medical Applications for Science and Health program at Baptist Health in Fort Smith. MASH requires participants to complete 40 hours a week of shadowing in a hospital. Tyler said the experience affirmed his desire to become a physician, as he "really loved the atmosphere of the hospital." He took the ACT seven times in order to get a perfect score because "I just felt like I could do it, and if I didn't get [a perfect score], then I just felt like I was letting myself down."

KENDON MOLINE Age: 17 Hometown: Conway High School: Conway High School Parents: Rebekkah and Corey Moline College plans: Brigham Young University

Kendon Moline said he has always liked learning how things are built, and as a child, he once spent an entire afternoon watching his neighbors get a new roof installed. A self-described "musician, math nerd, bowler and engineer," he's now third in his class at Conway High School and plans to attend Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, in the fall to study civil engineering. He's particularly interested in transportation planning, so civil engineering "falls right in line" with that passion. Kendon is so interested in engineering that he received the top possible score on his AP Physics C exam — a class his high school doesn't even offer. While he said he's "not the best at studying," he put in "a lot of effort" for the test because "if it's something you're passionate about, you'll commit to it." Kendon is also committed to his faith, as he'll only be attending BYU for a semester before he leaves to take part in his two-year mission as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He's looking forward to his mission, during which he'll be able to "share my beliefs, the Gospel, to help others and to grow." While many young men begin their missions immediately after high school, his parents encouraged him to do a semester of school first in order to "get out of the house and be more independent," so he's not "too shocked" when he does venture out on his own. He said he plans on returning to school after his mission. Kendon also plays the trombone in his school's marching band, bowls for the school team and is working toward earning his Eagle Scout badge.

ANNA OPPENHEIM Age: 18 Hometown: Jonesboro High School: Bay High School Parents: Tim and Lisa Oppenheim College plans: Columbia University

A conscientious leader, Anna Oppenheim uses her voice to make fellow Bay High School students heard. Her community-driven work ethic has come through in her service as student council president and senior class president. She's also used her voice as editor of the school newspaper to connect students and tell their unique stories, such as the feature she wrote about an eighth-grade boy who rescued his family — including his young siblings and stepmother, who had a broken leg — from their burning house. As a learner, Anna has always been interested in taking things apart and reassembling them. As a child, she was fascinated with the human skeleton and memorized every bone. "I know that sounds weird," she said. But her natural aptitude for science and medicine blossomed at an orthopedic surgery program through the Perry Initiative for women in medicine, where she performed a mock orthopedic surgery. After being handed a bone model, a bone saw and a few screws and rods, she was told to break the bone model, then figure out how to put it back together. Anna credits her success in that orthopedic exercise to her background in art, explaining that her artistic disposition helped her creatively place the rods and screws into the bones. Anna hopes to become a doctor, but said art will always be a part of her life. "Throughout my life, art has been a unifying thread, and I never want that passion to die," she said. She's auctioned her artwork to benefit various charities, like the Northeast Humane Society, the American Heart Association and the St. Bernards Health and Wellness Institute.

FELIPE MORALES OSORIO Age: 18 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School Parents: Felipe and Norma Morales College plans: Undecided

Felipe Morales Osorio has a knack for learning on his own. He taught himself pre-calculus, so he could skip straight to calculus. When his world history teacher became ill and had to leave the class mid-year, he worked on the subject independently to earn a 4 (out of 5) on the World History AP exam, meaning he's likely to receive college credit for the course. He's made a habit of turning to Khan Academy, the online collection of free academic courses, to augment or supplement his studies, and it shows: He has a 4.42 GPA and is No. 1 in his class at Parkview. Perhaps his proudest learning achievement came during a Central Arkansas Library System JavaScript coding class he took when he was 12, considerably younger than most of his classmates. He struggled, but studied hard and by the end of the summer he'd created a small version of the original Nintendo "Legend of Zelda" game. He's done grander coding projects since then, but the flash drive that stores that game sits on his bedside table as a reminder of what dedication and perseverance can mean. Felipe is considering computer science as a career path, but he's been leaning toward becoming a research mathematician. "I think math is very beautiful," he said. "There's math everywhere around us. It's in the weather. It's in the seashells. It's in almost everything. It's useful in a wide variety of fields. Science is always changing. But in math, it's more concrete and more absolute. When you prove something, like a theorem, you're proving it using logical arguments. Once you prove it, it's absolute. That really appeals to me, that it has a solid foundation."

JACKSON PARKER Age: 18 Hometown: Paragould High School: Paragould High School Parents: Melanie Parker and Jonathan Lane College plans: University of Arkansas at Fayetteville or Yale University, undecided

Jackson Parker speaks in a measured and self-assured tone that usually only comes with older age. He's good under pressure, evidenced by his many performance-based academic accolades, including scoring a perfect 36 on the ACT, winning the Arkansas State Spelling Bee in 2015, and earning Most Valuable Player in the Arkansas State Quiz Bowl in 2016. Concentrating for long stretches of time will serve him well as a heart surgeon, which he hopes to become one day. "I like the hands-on approach of surgery," he explained. It's an approach Parker has taken to further many of his interests, including his favorite subject, chemistry (he's an alumnus of the summer health program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences); music (he plays flute in the high school band and is a student of music theory), fine art (he draws inspiration from 19th century American landscape painter Thomas Cole) and architecture (American Gothic is his favorite style). "I want to apply myself toward everything I care about like a true Renaissance man," Parker said, adding a personal philosophical view that the arts and sciences, when paired, are fundamental to "understanding the greater physics of the universe." He is a burgeoning Renaissance humanist: While many high school students would rather follow the norm, at least socially and politically, Parker doesn't hesitate to sit at the empty table. Inspired by his grandmother, he's been active with the Greene County Democratic Party, which is so small, Parker said, "it can be hard to feel like you're making a difference." He continues to volunteer with the party because "it's important to start somewhere. You need to have the other side of the moral compass present." In fact, Parker expects to have a career in politics in some way, although he's not sure how. He just knows that "politics affect our lives daily, and if we want our problems to be solved, we have to play an active role."

NOAH BLAKE RABY Age: 18 Hometown: Newport High School: Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts Parents: Jennifer Raby, Angela Lawson and the late Jerry Raby College plans: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Last summer, Noah Raby spent six weeks in Chengdu, China, as part of a National Security Language Initiative for Youth program. He'd decided to take Mandarin at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts because, of all the foreign language options, it was the one he "was most uncomfortable with." That willingness to throw himself into the unfamiliar served him well while living with his host family and being served rabbit skull, with its brain, tongue and tendons that hold the jaw to the rest of skull still intact. "Despite how disgusting that might sound, it was actually pretty good," Noah said. Still, eating in the famously piquant Sichuan province wasn't a picnic for Noah, who describes himself as "not really a man of spiciness." Noah plans on minoring in Mandarin at M.I.T. while he's majoring in computer science. The combo could allow him to score a computer-engineering job with a Chinese company down the line. He got his love for computers from his late father, Jerry Raby, a longtime cable installer for Suddenlink who died of cancer just before Noah enrolled in the ASMSA. Noah remembers spending weekends with his dad working on tech projects: fixing a broken Xbox, making flammable thermite from material they bought on eBay, and doing various computer science projects. Noah built his first computer at age 11. His computer-related innovations have made an impact on ASMSA. His science fair project on texturizing ceramic additive manufacturing inspired the school to buy its own ceramic 3D printer.

ADAM SIWIEC Age: 17 Hometown: Rogers High School: Rogers Heritage High School Parents: Ashley and Tomek Siwiec College plans: Stanford University or University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

Adam Siwiec knows there's power in language. When he sits at a computer, coding language lets him create websites, software testing metrics and a laundry list of other things most of us have never heard of. When he sits at his typewriter, though, the language of poetry lets him explore a whole other world — where nature, consciousness and inner reflection dominate the landscape. Adam has pursued both languages with an ambitious determination. He's a National Merit Semifinalist, ranked first in his class, is the All-State Programming Champion, placed second at the University of Arkansas Hackathon and founded his school's computer science club. He's also self-published two books of poetry, the most recent through Amazon's publishing service. "That was a really big deal for me," he said. "I got a box of a hundred books with my name on it sent to my door, and I didn't know what to do with them. So I started handing them out, then selling them. That was fun, adding in the business side of it, too." After he read an article about internet censorship in China, he combined his two interests to create a website that pulled in the poems he had published on Instagram so that people in China, who are not allowed access to the social media site, could read his poetry. Adam plans to study computer science in college and minor in creative writing. He already has some professional coding experience under his belt from spending last summer in Poland working with his uncle's digital services agency. "I think that being a writer, it's really hard to succeed if you're not a New York Times bestseller," he said. "I really want to work for a large company like Google or Apple and do poetry as a hobby."

CLAUDIA SMITH Age: 18 Hometown: Little Rock High School: eStem Public Charter School Parents: Will and Sara Smith College plans: University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

Finding a balance between academic priorities and sports can be tricky, but Claudia Smith manages to do this and advocate for her fellow students at eStem Public Charter School. In addition to competing on the school's soccer and cross-country teams, Claudia and a friend started the Gender and Sexuality Alliance during their junior year at eStem. She did so because she wanted to "have a place for people to meet and feel like they had friends that are facing the same kinds of problems" as they are. The Alliance also works to help the community: It recently finished raising $400 for Lucie's Place, a nonprofit that provides resources and housing for homeless LGBTQ youth. No. 1 in her graduating class, Claudia is heading to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville this fall, where she plans to study engineering. While she's "really into math" and it's her favorite subject in school, she said the engineering program will allow her to do more "hands-on" work. Because eStem is a small school, she's looking forward to being on the UA's large campus with "a wider variety of people and opportunities to pursue [that] will give me more to get involved in." Claudia said she recently took a tour of the campus and was told that the school has several noncompetitive running groups, which she plans to join to keep her cross-country skills up to speed. She said her interest in politics will travel with her to Fayetteville, and she looks forward to getting involved with social justice organizations on campus.

CHASE MARIE SWINTON Age: 17 Hometown: Sherwood High School: Sylvan Hills High School Parents: Rick and Germaine Swinton College plans: Considering Vanderbilt University

Chase Swinton, who plans on studying neuroscience in college, has gotten just about as much hands-on experience in the field possible for a high school student. She learned about neurodegeneration in a project-based learning summer class at Washington University in St. Louis during the summer after her sophomore year. Last summer, she interned with Dr. Antiño Allen at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, working on NASA-funded research concerning "oxygen space radiation affecting hippocampal-dependent memory and cognitive function," as she described it in her All-Stars essay. In October, she was accepted to attend the Harvard Science Research Conference, where she learned about "computational advances in axon and neuron imaging." She's usually been the only African-American girl in such groups. That can be "difficult and lonely and isolating," she said, but as co-chair of the Principal's Council, a group that mentors middle school students, Sylvan Hills' valedictorian has gotten the chance to be an example for younger black female students. "One of my favorite sayings is 'representation begets representation.' If I'm a model for you, you'll be a model for someone else, and they'll be a model for someone else. That's really important in the black community, especially in STEM and for girls," she said. Chase's commitment to seeing things through shows in her soccer career. She was named all-conference as a freshman, but then sprained a ligament in her knee her sophomore year and suffered other knee injuries her junior year. Because of her UAMS internship, she couldn't have surgery to repair the knee over the summer, so she had to miss playing her senior year. But she's still the manager. "I didn't want to abandon the team," she explained.

ETHAN STRAUSS Age: 17 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Episcopal Collegiate School Parents: Noel and Joan Strauss College plans: Dartmouth College

Last summer, Ethan Strauss got a rare opportunity for a high school student. He interned at Forest Hill Capital, a small Little Rock investment firm, and he didn't spend his time there getting coffee and filing documents. Tasked with modeling the financial growth of a construction materials company to determine its investment potential, Ethan "read through five years of the company's quarterly reports and synthesized its income and cash flow statements and balance sheets," he wrote in his All-Stars essay, and then "linked the spreadsheets and used linear regressions to approximate future share prices." He may continue down that path by majoring in economics at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., but he's also considering international relations. He's been interested in geography since he was a child. He loves learning about different cultures. He's drawn to "the complexity of it all and being able to understand how other people think." He's particularly fascinated by unrecognized countries, areas that are self-proclaimed independent nations "and how it would be to live" in one. Pursuing a career in infrastructure investment could be a way for him to combine investments and international relations. He's sure to maintain a healthy dose of pursuits outside of his studies and work: A tennis ace, he's been half of a doubles team that's won the 3A state championship for four years in a row. He's also passionate about pingpong. His Episcopal counselor, Tricia Morgan, said he blushes when school staffers tell him pingpong "could be his Olympic sport." He's also working to share the sport with others. With the profits from a business he started reselling hard-to-find sneakers, he founded Paddle Together, a program that provides pingpong tables to homeless shelters and community centers.

SHAKIAH WILLIAMS Age: 17 Hometown: Blytheville High school: Blytheville High School Parents: Sharon Harris and Africa Wells College plans: Vanderbilt University

Mississippi County's entire population is less than that of the city of Conway. Shakiah (pronounced "Sha-kai-ah") Williams was born and raised there, in Blytheville. Some would say it's a sleepy town. Williams' high school years, however, have been quite the opposite. After school, she'd report to one of her two major extracurricular commitments: practice for the Blytheville High School cheerleading squad, or to practice and conditioning sessions as part of her membership on the Blytheville Chickasaw GymChicks gymnastics team. Add to that her membership in the school's French Club, FBLA, student council and Student Ambassadors; her time volunteering for the local chapters of both the Special Olympics and National Cancer Society; and her work with the annual Blytheville Christmas celebration "Lights of the Delta." "Honestly, this year it became stressful because of all the work I've had to get done, alongside the sports," Williams said. Part of that work, of course, was preparing to leave the high school nest. "College has always been a stressful subject for me," she wrote in her Academic All-Stars essay. "At one point in time I didn't even have the confidence to apply. I just didn't think I would make it." Her transcript shows how unfounded her fears were: Williams has a 4.22 grade point average. Her ACT score is a composite 30. Her language teacher, Lena Pierce, took her to Nashville to visit her dream school, Vanderbilt University. Williams was subsequently accepted, with just "a few thousand [dollars] a year to get covered," she wrote. "This achievement has helped me take some of the stress off of my mom. She is a single parent and having college paid for is just another weight off of her shoulders."

MICHELLE XU Age: 16 Hometown: College Station, Texas High School: Little Rock Central High School Parents: Joshua Xu and Alice Li College plans: University of Pennsylvania

When Michelle Xu found out she'd been accepted into the University of Pennsylvania, she said it was the happiest day of her life. Last summer she attended the university's Leadership in the Business World program, an intensive four-week curriculum of Wharton School of Business classes, during which Michelle's team created a startup business plan and presented it to their classmates. Michelle said she's "liked being a leader" since she was a child, and the LBW program helped her "[connect] the dots on how as a leader you lead by putting aside your ego." She said she aspires to be a "good leader in the business world," She's the first high school member of the Arkansas Association of Asian Businesses. She's also captain of Central High School's varsity Quiz Bowl team; president of its Future Business Leaders of America chapter, president of the Beta Club; vice president of Mu Alpha Theta, the school's math club; and president and founder of the school's Economics and Finance Club. Michelle said she founded the new club so students could learn about economics, rather than the "pure business" focus of the FBLA club. As valedictorian of her class, Michelle said she uses "a lot of time management" to balance her academic workload with her extracurriculars, and has had to make some sacrifices — she danced competitively until her sophomore year and played piano until her junior year, but quit both in order to focus on her classes and leadership roles. Michelle visits her family in China every three or four years, and she said a recent trip to her parents' hometowns helped her realize that "if my parents worked this hard to get to America, I need to work this hard to show them that I will continue their work."

RAMY YOUSEF Age: 17 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Little Rock Central High School Parents: Ziad Yousef and Muntaha Yousef College plans: Hendrix College or the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

One glance at Ramy Yousef's transcript makes it clear that he has good study skills. He's ranked seventh in his class of 550 at Central High School, with a GPA of 4.43 in classes as diverse as art, debate and pretty much every AP class ever taught. But it's a question about attending Arkansas Governor's School last summer that really gets him talking about what he loves about education. "You get to learn in an environment where you don't get grades," he said. "Making friends and just waking up and going to learn every day — it was a fun experience." Ramy's motivation to do well in high school has been, he said, simply to get into a good college and pay as little as possible for it. He's got a loftier goal for when he gets there, though: to study chemistry and eventually put that knowledge to work developing new vaccines. Science is a family pursuit. Ramy's dad is an entrepreneur, but his mother is a scientist, one sibling is in medical school and the other is in college studying biomedical engineering. Ramy does science even in his downtime, watching astronomy videos on YouTube. That interest took him to a first-place finish in astronomy at the 2017 Arkansas Science Olympiad. What's so cool about astronomy? "Just the possibility that life can exist on another planet," he said.

2019 Arkansas Times Academic All-Star Team

[benrleeusa]

[Ilya Somin] Should We Let Children Vote? The Troubling Implications of Standard Reasons for Rejecting an Admittedly Flawed Idea

Few will agree with Cambridge political scientist David Runciman's proposal to lower the voting age to 6. But standard reasons for rejecting the idea raise serious questions about many adult voters, too.

Prominent British political scientist David Runciman argues that the voting age should be lowered to six, in order to correct what he considers to be a serious age bias in modern democracy, where children's interests are increasingly neglected in favor of those of the elderly, who wield vastly greater political power:

The head of politics at Cambridge University has called for children as young as six to be given the vote in an attempt to tackle the age bias in modern democracy.

Prof David Runciman said the ageing population meant young people were now "massively outnumbered", creating a democratic crisis and an inbuilt bias against governments that plan for the future.

In the latest episode of his podcast, Talking Politics, he said lowering the voting age to 16 was not radical enough to address the problem.

He said: "I would lower the voting age to six, not 16. And I'm serious about that. I would want people who vote to be able to read, so I would exclude reception [age-children].

"What's the worst that could happen? At least it would be exciting, it would make elections more fun. It is never going to happen in a million years but as a way of capturing just how structurally unbalanced our democracies have become, seriously, why not? Why not six-year-olds?

Runciman added: "Old people are currently the coalition that have a huge inbuilt advantage in representative democratic politics.

"Young people are massively outnumbered because the voting age is 18, whereas there isn't a cutoff point at the other end. You don't lose the vote when you get to be 75. You can carry on voting until the day you die and there is no test. You could be frankly demented and still get to vote, which is as it should be. So young people are the losers here...."

He argued that if the voting age was not lowered, politics would be left to "people who aren't going to live into the future and can just care about the present."

It's easy to mock Runciman's idea and dismiss it out of hand. Even he himself admits that it "is never going to happen in a million years." There are a number of flaws in his reasoning. For example, it is far from clear that older voters care less about the future than very young ones. Many of the elderly have children and grandchildren whose future welfare they likely care about a great deal. By contrast, very few children - especially those as young as six - have children of their own. In addition, Runciman's implicit assumption that voters make decisions based on narrow self-interest is largely wrong. For what it's worth, I too reject the idea that we should let six year olds vote. Ditto for most other children.

But when we try to explain why children should not be allowed to vote, it turns out that all the plausible answers have disturbing implications: they all imply that a good many adults also should be excluded from the franchise. Despite some mistakes in his reasoning, Runciman has a point. He is not wrong to suggest that children have a strong interest in electoral outcomes, and that standard democratic theory implies all citizens with such an interest should - at least presumptively - have a say in deciding who controls the government.

Consider the most obvious justification for denying children the vote: that they are too ignorant to make good decisions. This is likely true, at least for the majority of them. But it also true of large numbers of adult voters. Political ignorance is widespread among the latter. A 2017 Pew survey found that only 26 percent of adult Americans can even name the three branches of government. Another recent study finds that only 36 percent could pass the simple civics test immigrants must take to become citizens.

And these examples are just the tip of a vast iceberg of adult voter ignorance. A large percentage of adult voters probably know less about government than a smart grade schooler who remembers what she learned in a basic history or social studies class. Indeed, given the very low likelihood that any one vote will influence electoral outcomes, it is actually rational for most people to devote little time and effort to acquiring political information.

Perhaps the real reason why children should be denied the franchise is not lack of knowledge, but their poor judgment and immaturity. Of course many adults also have poor judgment and lack maturity. Consider the current president of the United States, who is "undisciplined" and "doesn't like to read," and whose own staff often manage him as if they are babysitting an unruly toddler. If children should be denied the vote because they lack judgment and maturity, why not the many adults who lack those same qualities?

Maybe the problem with child-voters is that they don't have the benefit of various adult experiences, such as working at a job, raising a family, paying taxes, or running a business. I am actually skeptical that these are as important for making good voting decisions as knowledge of government and public policy. But if I'm wrong about that, then we have to reckon with the fact that numerous adults also lack these experiences. Conversely a good many children do in fact have some of them, most notably working at jobs, or even - in some cases - helping to run a family business.

Another standard justification for denying children the vote is that they are too easily influenced by adults. Many might just vote whichever way their parents tell them. Of course, the same thing is true of many adults. Their political views are also heavily influenced by friends or family members. Historically, one of the standard justifications for denying women the vote was that they would just follow the dictates of their husbands or fathers.

More recently, Hillary Clinton famously claimed that she lost the 2016 election in large part because many white women voted against her as a result of pressure from their spouses. Some scholars argue that social science evidence supports her claims. Regardless, it's hard to deny that many people's political views and voting decisions are influenced by parents, spouses, and other family members, and that this influence is strong even with many adults.

Finally, it is sometimes argued the disenfranchising children is no big deal, because it is only temporary. They will get the vote as soon as they turn 18 (or whatever the minimum voting age is). But children who were denied the vote in 2016 and this year, are going to be massively affected by the decisions made by the winners of these elections, often in ways that are difficult or impossible to reverse. And, of course, the exclusion of adults who lack necessary political knowledge or don't have some form of relevant life experience might also be temporary. It could be ended as soon as they show they have met minimum levels of political knowledge or obtained the right type of life experience.

With respect to most of these potential criteria for the franchise, children are, on average more likely to fall short than adults. But if statistical aggegates are enough to deny the vote to all children (including those who are exceptions to the pattern), why not to subsets of the adult population that also have an unusually high likelihood of falling short of our standards? Runciman, for example, points out that the elderly have a higher incidence of senile dementia than younger people, which might in turn reduce the average quality of their voting decisions. Data suggest that the poor, on average, have lower levels of political knowledge than more affluent voters. And so on.

Some political theorists argue that the quality of voters' decisions don't matter, or at least not enough to justify denying anyone the franchise. All that is important is that citizens have the right to exercise the franchise freely. They are then entitled to decide as they wish, regardless of whether their choices are well-informed or otherwise reflect good judgment. I disagree. But if such "pure proceduralist" justifications for democracy are valid, then we really have no good reason to deny children the franchise. If quality of decision-making is irrelevant for adult voters, why not children, as well?

The easiest way to reconcile standard justifications for denying the vote to children with the way we treat adult voters is to subject both children and adults to the same standards: before being allowed to vote, all should be required to prove they have a minimum level of political knowledge, judgment and maturity, or whatever other qualities are essential to being a good voter. This idea leads to something like Jason Brennan's theory of "epistocracy" - the "rule of the knowers." Competence, not age, would determine eligibility for the franchise. And that franchise need not be reserved to just a small elite. Depending on what kinds of standards are set, many millions of people would still be able to vote, including some children who are currently barred.

Unfortunately, I doubt that real-world governments can be trusted to either come up with good criteria for an epistocratic franchise, or apply them in an unbiased fashion. That's why I am skeptical of proposals to establish a knowledge test for voters, even though I do not reject all such ideas as a matter of principle. At most, I am open to potentially expanding the franchise by including knowledgeable children. But I oppose the establishment of a universal testing system, which would create a much higher risk of abuse.

At least for a long time time to come, we are likely stuck with a system under which we deny children the vote for reasons that (often rightly) call into question the competence of numerous adult voters. This may be unavoidable. But it should make us more skeptical about the desirability of giving so much power to a political process heavily influenced by public ignorance. And it should lead us to be more open to proposals to limit and decentralize government power, so that more decisions can be made in a framework where people have better incentives to become informed and exercise good judgment.

[theconservativebrief]

It’s been a bad week. The sun sets at like 3 pm now. Amazon is coming to Queens.

I keep forgetting to call my gynecologist back to dispute an $800 insurance charge; now they’ve sent me another letter about it. It was my birthday on Sunday, which means I am older than I was, which doesn’t bother me so much as it reminds me that everyone I love is getting older too, which bothers me. What if they die?

This is what I’m thinking about when I take the 2 train uptown from Vox’s office in the Financial District to go to the flagship Macy’s in Herald Square and see the holiday retail pop-up Facebook has installed in the men’s section.

Facebook’s pop-up, which opened on Monday and will run through February in New York and eight other cities, is a Facebook-curated boutique selling items from 100 different small businesses that have Facebook business pages and submitted applications to be part of Facebook: The Market @ Macy’s.

This includes a Charleston burger restaurant that sells barbecue sauce and a place called Bourbon and Boots, which sells Southern-inspired home decor, including a crystal skull-shaped lamp full of vodka.

“The gifts you found on Facebook are now at Macy’s,” is the tagline. (Sometimes you have to go boring-but-informative with your tagline when the premise of your project is confusing.)

Facebook is no longer confined to our computer screens, where it is already doing more than enough

Retail Dive commented on the partnership, saying, “Facebook’s involvement indicates that the storied department store has grasped, at least to some extent, the experiential value of its stores.”

I would like to add that Facebook’s involvement indicates that Facebook is no longer confined to our computer screens, where it is already doing more than enough. And that I suspect it is wiggling into the holiday shopping season in an effort to steal some warm and fuzzy associations from you while your heart is amped up on caffeine and overt sentiment.

Anyway, Facebook: The Market @ Macy’s is immediately inside the front door of the department store, taking up about 200 square feet in between a Samsung Gear VR demo area and something called b8ta, which is where you can buy the Quip electric toothbrushes you see advertised on the subway, the motor-powered Boosted skateboards you see advertised by men on Tinder, a supplement meant to defer dementia, a headband meant to force you to meditate, and a “personal safety device” called D.A.D. (It appears to be pepper spray, though the description says “IT IS STEALTH.”)

I feel it’s worth noting that all of the available gadgets in Macy’s, including Amazon and Google and Apple products, are available exclusively in the men’s section.

Each gift has 250 likes. Kaitlyn Tiffany/Vox

I will not buy any of these items for my loved ones because I am only here for Facebook’s The Market @ Macy’s. I scoot around the edge of The Market taking photos of the signage with my phone, with earbuds in so that I won’t be able to hear it if anyone asks me to please stop taking photos.

Each item in the Facebook market at Macy’s is framed in a mockup of a Facebook post, so you can see how many likes it has received. Each item has received 250 likes. There is also a larger mockup of a Facebook post labeled, “The most liked gift of all,” which you’re supposed to put your face in, so that someone can take your photo. You, as the most liked gift of all, received 450 likes.

What will I buy for my loved ones? Maybe a “LoveBook,” which is actually an instructional booklet that costs $40 and will direct me to a website where I can order a customized children’s book about my relationship with my boyfriend or mom. Maybe a LuMee Instafame lighted case, as seen on television in the hands of Kim Kardashian. Maybe an Inspiralized “noodle twister.” Maybe a Henley, which is sitting next to a framed print-out of an Esquire article titled “14 Gifts That Work for Men and Women.”

A couple of elegant, middle-aged shoppers stop to inspect 4ocean, “the bracelet that’s cleaning the ocean,” but they move on quickly. A clerk in a gold vest asks me “Do you need help, or are you just taking photos?” in a tone that implies that she actually isn’t being passive-aggressive, she literally doesn’t care what my intentions are, she’s just stating two choices for me in case I was frozen in indecision about what to do with the next few breaths of my one short life. I hope she gets the holiday shifts she wants, and not the terrible ones everyone hates.

“As seen on Facebook” gifts for your loved ones. Kaitlyn Tiffany/Vox

I do not subscribe to the look-don’t-touch philosophy of perusing expensive goods you probably don’t have the means to buy, which is why I pick up a box of NeuroGum, which is $20 gum that provides energy, clarity, and focus, to “the artists, the dreamers, and the doers.”

I also touch makeup made by Jessica Alba’s the Honest Company, makeup made by VC darling Mented, and makeup made by FabFitFun sub-brand Ish, all of which, by merit of being in Facebook’s holiday shop, remind me of what “makeup” and “Facebook” typically mean when they appear in the same sentence. I would buy some for my younger sisters, but they are already so beautiful! I write down that Jessica Alba is a small-business owner on Facebook.

Jessica Alba is a small-business owner on Facebook

Obviously, I am making fun of Facebook: The Market @ Macy’s because I don’t think Facebook’s definition of “small business” makes any sense, and I don’t think these choices of gift are any better than the ones on QVC.

But the real reason I’m making fun of Facebook is because I am afraid of it, and the fact that its sterile, thumbs-up definition of affection and approval and time-stamped definition of memory represents such a cold distortion of what we are actually doing when we go out to buy presents for people because it is the end of the year. We are spending money and making lists, sure, but we are also trying to tidy up our mixed feelings and put a bow on them.

We have to take stock of everything we’ve allowed to happen, and then we have to say it’s mostly fine because there was also a Carly Rae Jepsen single. Many of us spent the past 12 months talking about student loans and income inequality and now we’ll have to spend money on each other, which we are glad to do, it’s our pleasure.

The snow will be so good. Maybe next year there will not be snow? Maybe next year global warming will convince the island of Manhattan to slide into the sea. You are obligated to spiral through thoughts like this and then placate yourself with a candy cane. This is what makes you a person!

There is openly no reason for The Market to exist, other than to ingratiate an overreaching monolith to a public that no longer trusts it or likes it. But Facebook is not human; it does not feel dread and warmth at the same time, it is just a tech monopolist edging into our glittery, manufactured rituals, looking for one more data point on what makes us tick.

Original Source -> Why is Facebook selling brain-stimulating chewing gum at Macy’s?

via The Conservative Brief

[dopepoetrist]

The Nitty-gritty On Rudimentary Methods For Stevia Sweetened Iso Xp

Some Professional Ideas On Primary Aspects For Grass Fed Whey Protein Canada

You Need To Read These Fitness Tips

Fitness involves more than just a few visits to the gym. To achieve your fitness goals takes knowledge, patience, and persistence. All the information in this article will give you the tools you need to find great fitness success! If you have never worked out before, consider buying one or two sessions with a trainer to learn proper form and good exercises to use while you are starting out. Your trainer can help you to set up a suitable program so that you can reach your goals easily. Going to the gym can be tough at first so get a trainer to help you learn the ropes. You will be on your way to a great start to a Whey Protein plan you can stick to. Being fit is a goal many people try to achieve by lifting weights at the gym. Focusing on exercises that work your legs, arms, core, back, and buttocks will help you become more toned all over. Try pull-ups, push-ups, squats, leg raises, handstand push-ups, and bridges. Work out on lifting weights for no more than an hour. Muscle wasting happens within an hour. Watch the time and stop lifting weights before you hit the 60 minute mark. Investing in a personal trainer is a great way to improve your fitness goals. This will let a personal trainer share some insight with you and help you stay motivated with your workout. However, some people are very successful when they work out on their own. When lifting weights over your head, remember to tighten your glute muscles during each rep. This move allows your body to adopt a more efficient and safe position while minimizing your chance of injury and maximizing your workout. That position greatly stabilizes your spine. You can gain more muscle by incorporating more rest into your routine. This will cause your muscles to work harder and will, at the same time, improve your endurance. As an example, during your next workout session, trim 2 minutes off of your 20 minute routine. There are some exercise pros that support increasing strength by stretching the same muscles you just used in your workout. These are brief stretches done in between sets. You need not stretch for long; 30 or even 20 seconds should be sufficient. Research indicates that stretching can improve strength. Also, stretching lessens any potential for injury. Alternate sets of crunches with sets of sit-ups for a better ab workout. Over the years, sit-up exercises have declined in popularity. The only thing you should avoid is anchored-feet sit-ups. They are still harmful to your back muscles. One easy way to increase your fitness is through yard work. Doing yard work as part of your exercise program accomplishes two things at once. This is a great way to improve your yard and your waistline. One day of yard work per week can provide a significant amount of exercise to your weekly total. Working in your yard is a great way to improve both your property and your body. A helpful tip you should keep in mind is that, as you do crunches, you should press your tongue against the roof of the mouth. The position of your tongue in this instance keeps your neck muscles properly aligned during your abdominal workout. When you make sure to do this, you can prevent straining a muscle or encountering another injury. Get the whole family involved by creating exercises for everyone. You and your family can alternate choosing what work out you will do. Keep fitness diaries for the whole family to monitor their progress. Every member of the family should be able to find an activity that they enjoy and are good at. Everyone can work on getting fit, however, those who are really serious about it will perfect their techniques whenever needed. With these tips, you can create a weight loss plan and accomplish your goals.

What's Necessary For Deciding On Factors In Canada

(Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press) Spruce Meadows will be the home grounds for Calgary's Tier 1 professional soccer club when the Canadian Premier League launches next season, newly appointed team president Ian Allison confirmed Sunday. "We have a number of designs underway," he said. "One of the great things we have that puts us at a bit of an advantage over some of our colleagues is that we have a great infrastructure at Spruce Meadows that also has, if you will, federation approved facilities — a different federation albeit — with grass rings and drainage and all those types of things so there are a number of things that are going to be unveiled in the next couple of weeks." Calgary was one of four groups approved for professional club membership by Soccer Canada at its annual general meeting in Yellowknife, paving the way for them to join the CPL. MORE ALBERTA NEWS |  What matters most to Albertans: Poll results set the stage for 2019 election​ Clubs from Halifax, Port City, B.C., and York Region, Ont., also got the seal of approval. Port City is not an actual city in B.C., but is thought to represent an as yet unnamed city in the Lower Mainland, though no official announcement has been made.  The CPL was approved for league membership with Soccer Canada last year, along with clubs in Hamilton and Winnipeg. Ian Allison was named president of Spruce Meadows Sports and Entertainment, the ownership group behind Calgary's Tier 1 professional soccer team. (ROLEX/YouTube) CPL is set to debut as a professional men's soccer league in the spring of 2019, and will serve as a Tier 1 league. FIFA, the sport's world governing body, still has to approve the league and its clubs. Recognition from Canada's national association was a necessary step before that could happen.  Spruce Meadows Sports and Entertainment will be the ownership group behind the Calgary team. Allison said players will come from all over the world, "but the majority of them on the field of play will be Canadian." Known as one of the world's premier equestrian facilities since it opened in the 1970s, Allison said making the jump into soccer isn't that much of a stretch for Spruce Meadows. "It's truly an international game, the most international game," he said.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-halifax-york-region-port-city-soccer-1.4650706

What You Must Know About Vitamins And Minerals

Do you feel confusion, as far as health goes? Do you feel like something isn't quite right, but you don't know exactly what it is? If so, this article may be able to help you with its information on vitamins and minerals that may provide some relief. Vitamins are essential in helping you get the most from your exercise plan. You'll recover faster, nourish your muscles, and burn more fat. Learn how minerals and vitamins react with each other before taking any combination of them. For instance, iron cannot be absorbed if calcium is taken at the same time. So, do not eat or drink dairy products or take a calcium supplement or antacid within 30 minutes of taking an iron supplement. Schedule your supplement doses for mealtimes when any supplements have fats that need to be taken along with food. Vitamins A, E, and K can only be absorbed if taken with food. The best way to help your body absorb them is to eat some food with some fat. There are many times where you will ache and not understand why. Before you go running off to see a doctor when you feel an ache or pain, try increasing the amount of vitamins and minerals that you are consuming. Strained and overworked muscles can benefit greatly from fish oil supplements and vitamin E. Get more red blood cells through iron. These blood cells are carriers of oxygen. Women need more iron than men do, and many women's supplements are designed with this in mind. If you feel exhausted all the time and have trouble breathing, you could be deficient in iron. Vitamin A will boost the immune system and it helps with your skin's aging process while keeping heart disease at bay. However, vitamin A can be toxic. You can also eat carrots or squash to up your intake. If you are in menopause, then you shouldn't take prenatal vitamins. Many women choose to take the vitamins for their hair or nails. While this is safe for younger women, they do have a lot of iron and post-menopausal women can get too much. Citrus fruits can be a great source of vitamin C. Adding vitamin C supplementation is helpful for everyone, but especially for people who do not eat enough fresh fruits and veggies. This potent vitamin help prevent and treat colds, gum disease, acne, stomach ulcers, and skin infections. If that's not enough, studies have proven that vitamin C also helps those with dementia and ADHD. If you want to use gummy vitamins meant for children as an adult, take several of them. Taking the children's dosage of a vitamin does not provide the recommended daily allowance for adults. At the same time, you must take care not to take too many. Prior to taking minerals or vitamins, consult with your doctor to see if you're suffering from any deficiencies. This is an issue that should provide a basis for your supplements, so you need to know the ones you need as soon as possible. In today's difficult economic times we often neglect our bodies by eating from the dollar menu at our favorite fast food restaurant depriving it of the vitamin and minerals we require. Purchase some basic vitamins to make sure your body can efficiently convert fat into energy, and fight off any cold that threatens. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having doubts about the claims made by manufacturers of certain supplements containing multiple vitamins and minerals. Many advertisements don't always share the best information. Be sure to question any information you receive. If you doubt anything, talk with your doctor. Not feeling your best can cause desperation. There are many different solutions, though. Use this advice to get the proper nutrients you need. Good luck!

[omcik-blog]

New Post has been published on OmCik

New Post has been published on http://omcik.com/how-the-medicaid-debate-affects-long-term-care-insurance-decisions/

How the Medicaid debate affects long-term care insurance decisions

The latest version of the Senate’s bill , and it didn’t do much to change the in Medicaid spending that were in the original legislation.

Here’s why that’s important to nearly everyone, even people who are reasonably affluent for now: As I’ve explained in two recent columns, for retirees who run out of money but still need home-based care or must move into a nursing home. Medicare generally doesn’t cover those costs, and they are high enough that even people with can end up spending everything they have the years before they die.

The money for Medicaid comes from both the federal government and the states, and this week, the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington had to say about what the future holds: “States will not be able to sustain spending for long-term services and supports as baby boomers begin to need these services and supports.”

More from New York Times:

Something will have to give if we are to take the senators responsible for this bill at their word, and plenty of readers are taking them literally. So the question I’ve heard most in the last two weeks is this: How seriously should I consider getting some kind of to cover my care in case big Medicaid cuts are on the horizon?

Over most of the past couple of decades, answering this question meant shopping for long-term care insurance. At first it covered only nursing homes, but policies eventually paid for assisted living and home-based or community-based care, too. To make a claim, you must generally be unable to handle at least a few basic aspects of everyday living on your own.

What are the odds that you might need such intensive assistance? According to a 2015 , by Melissa Favreault of the Urban Institute and Judith Dey of the office of the assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at the federal Health and Human Services Department, 52 percent of people turning 65 will need it at some point before they die.

And how long might they need it for? Of 100 people — including those who will never require any care — 27 will need it for less than two years. Fourteen of 100 will need care for five or more years. If you break it down by sex, women stand an 18 out of 100 chance of joining the five-year club, compared with just 10 out of 100 men. The costs will vary significantly, but 8.6 percent of people will end up spending more than $250,000 out of their own pockets.

The numbers are scary enough that plenty of people bought insurance in recent decades — and kept the plans long enough to start making claims. And most of the insurance companies guessed wrong about how many customers would need to cash in (to say nothing of all their other wrong guesses). Most insurers have left the long-term care market, and many of the rest have raised prices significantly, both on existing policyholders and newcomers.

Take, for example, a single, 60-year-old man who wants to buy a policy today. He is seeking a $250-a-day benefit for care and a provision that raises that benefit 3 percent per year to try to keep up with inflation. He wants to guarantee three years total of care and is willing to agree to a 90-day waiting period before he can collect. He will pay an average of $3,355 per year, according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.

Things get worse for a single, 60-year-old woman, who would pay an average of $4,470 for the same plan. (Women are responsible for two-thirds of all claims in dollars, so they pay more in most states, though gender-based rates are of a federal administrative complaint.) Couples could save money by joining forces and sharing the benefits; a heterosexual couple would pay $4,945.

Plenty of people can’t afford premiums that large. Others can’t get coverage at all. According to the most recent industry data, 25 percent of consumers who tried to get a policy between the ages of 60 and 69 were rejected altogether. For those who tried when they were 70 to 79, 44 percent could not get coverage at any price. Buying earlier could mean three or four decades of premiums.

While it’s foolish to approach this decision without digesting the actuarial odds and prices, there is no calculator that can size things up precisely. Should you bet against your ability to care for yourself later by buying expensive insurance — or do so to protect assets for your heirs and to keep them from having to change your adult diapers? Or is it smarter to bet on your ability to save, keep saving, keep working and have the stock market deliver enough returns so that, 20 or 30 or 40 years from now, you will have enough money to pay for in-home care or a nursing home?

Many people use their own experience as a guide. Victoria Coyle’s mother paid roughly $500 each month for long-term care insurance for about a decade. To afford it, she skipped dental insurance, put off home repairs and cut back on grandchild visits. “Our mother was pretty adamant that she didn’t want to burden us in any way,” Ms. Coyle said.

Her children tried to persuade her to drop the coverage, but she wouldn’t budge. She died last year at 75 after two heart attacks, having never made a claim. None of her children have long-term care insurance, though Ms. Coyle said she hadn’t ruled it out.

There is another option: that offers a long-term care benefit. If you don’t need it, your heirs get money when you die. It outsells traditional long-term care insurance, according to Limra, a research company. My colleague Paul Sullivan late last year.

Financial services representatives are positively gleeful. in a trade publication described “off the charts” interest and “strong crowds” at professional events. This exuberance should make their clients extremely wary. If you’re considering any such product, hire an independent adviser on an hourly basis (say, from the ) to examine the policy side by side with traditional long-term care insurance and the possibility of paying for care out of pocket.

Sophisticated readers who wrote to me in recent weeks described doing all of the above and still throwing up their hands in confusion. It took a professional storyteller, , to help me understand why.

Ms. Gillis spent many years watching her mother slowly melt away from dementia. In an interview this week, as she contemplated her own future, Ms. Gillis spoke of changing generational narratives: Once upon a time, you grew up, married, had kids, got your pension, the end. “The entire storytelling trajectory has now changed,” she concluded, after describing her mother’s last few years, when she did not recognize her daughter. It is not how she wants her own life to play out.

So here’s my guess as to how the story might end in the future — and why we should all think very hard before buying a lot of pricey insurance that we’d need to keep for decades. As several of you pointed out in your emails, there is something radically unfair about the fact that Medicare pays for years of expensive treatment for cancer and heart disease but won’t touch the long-term care and supervision that is, in effect, the prescription for people with memory conditions.

Given how strapped Medicaid is likely to become and how many more of us will live long enough to find our brains and bank accounts depleted before our bodies, it seems quite likely that the federal and state governments will have to do more, not less, to keep older Americans off the streets. No one in Washington seems to want to own up to that, but they will soon have no choice.

Susan Flanders, a retired Episcopal priest who watched her father die slowly while in the throes of Alzheimer’s, believes that the will eventually catch up to the desire of many people to make plans in advance to end their lives, should their minds permanently falter in a severe fashion.

She’s also utterly unafraid to mix money into the conversation about the meaning of life when the mind deteriorates. “What we’re paying for is something that many people wouldn’t want if they had a choice,” said Rev. Flanders, who is working on a book about dementia. “It’s hundreds of dollars each day that could go towards their grandchildren’s education or care for people who could get well.”

Given the fact that dementia and related cases are often the most expensive and long-lasting, it’s possible that a change in approach like the one Rev. Flanders imagines could mean that lots of people would need less money for their own care. No one would have to sign up for an assisted death, but many people would probably choose to.

How soon will the federal and state governments come around, by formally paying for long-term care for all dementia patients and by allowing a different kind of death for those who choose it? It’s hard to say, but many of us didn’t think gay marriage and legal marijuana would happen so quickly.

“What many people care about isn’t living as long as we possibly can,” Rev. Flanders said. “It’s about having a reasonably good quality of life for as long as we can.”

[ferndenyerphotops-blog]

Essay

Analyse  why and how Sam Taylor-Wood, John Coplans and Phil Toledano have created photographic/ lens-based work that frankly and honestly addresses issues to do with both ageing and mortality.

 The process of ageing is a natural one and results from the way that time affect both biological organisms and physical, seemingly ‘permanent’ material. The process of ‘ageing’ has many scientific explanations behind it and it has been widely researched in order to understand diseases that are age-related. More recently researchers have been looking into whether ‘life’ and therefore the ‘ageing process’ can be prolonged. Anti-ageing creams and the uprising popularity of cosmetic procedures as led to a rise in people seeking to ‘look’ younger than their years. Diets, exercises and medical procedures have been the topic of discussion in society regarding how we can all look and feel younger no matter how much we biologically age.

 

It could be fair to say that attitudes towards ageing have changed throughout recent years and that ‘respect towards our elders’ has declined. Many people might consider that this situation could have arises due to a rise in social media, arguing that ‘ageing’ is not really presented an overly positive way on most media platforms. In News reports, it is quite common to see that ‘Ageing’ is now often portrayed as a debilitating process and this is presented in a pessimistic way. It could also be argued that women are under far more scrutiny than men when it comes to general attitudes towards ageing i.e. whether they embrace the odd grey hair and wrinkles or choose to use cosmetic procedures to halt these natural signs of ageing. 

  The process of ‘ageing’ brings about a series of social implications for older people such as quality of life and the loss of independence. John Coplans addressed issues such as these in a series of nude self-portraits that have the potential to break down society’s barriers concerning body confidence and pride. John Coplans was born in London in 1920 and served in the army for 8 years before returning to civilian life to become an artist. From his early childhood, he had developed an admiration for his father who regularly took him to galleries which influenced his career in art. 

                            Coplans’ work features a series of nude self-portraits, ‘Serial figures’ (1984-1994) which are presented in black & white and have been taken using a Polaroid camera. Coplans did sometimes use an assistant, however much of the setting-up was undertaken by himself because he liked to be in control of the shots he took and how they were developed.  Coplans didn’t include his face in the photographs because he wanted to create a set of photographs featuring a body with no ‘set’ identity. This corresponds with what Coplans said about the images and how he feels when he is posing for them: “I wanted to be all the people in the world, I wanted to be all the people in the world that have ever been in the world.” (Coplans, 2002) It is clear that the photographer wanted his body to be a universal model to represent bodies that are real and have been through the process of life.   

    

When discussing his body, John Coplans has said: “I don’t really deal with old age, as I say it’s merely a condition that I’m in, that I have to make use with as best as I can. And I pretend that my body is young” (Coplans, 2002). It can be assumed that Coplans believes he can expose the frailty of his personal pride whilst his images display self-confidence.  These photographs are direct, honest and expose the minute details of his body. He is very honest because he admits to his self-perceived ‘flaws’ and welcomes them as part of his body.   It can be argued that this series of work also explores the concept of ‘self-perception’ because Coplans is showcasing his own body in a variety of stances and poses that reveal every wrinkle, scar and varying textures on himself; in this way, he has virtually turned himself into a living piece of art, something to look at and contemplate on.    

  The context in which John Coplans has taken his photographs invites the discussion as to whether there is a current taboo regarding the process of ‘ageing’ through his frank and seemingly provocative approach to photographing his own body: “Even though it’s a seventy-year old body, I can make it interesting. This keeps me alive and gives me vitality.” (Coplans, 2002) Creating his work gives Coplans a new lease of life as he said, the work does not only gives himself self-confidence and pride but gives a strong message to others that they can appreciate their own bodies.  Therefore, it can be argued that Coplan’s work very much advocates the question that ageing can be photographed frankly and honestly because he has been able to create a series of photographs that exactly do this. However, some people may disagree that Coplan’s work is inspirational and change their view point on ageing. Many people develop their own internalized opinions of themselves and regarding ageing viewing somebody else’s body may not be personal enough to change them.

   

Phil Toledano was born in London in 1968 to a French-Moroccan mother and an American Father. He is a socio-political artist and has created work ranging from photography to full-scale installation. His work has featured in Vanity Fair, The New York Time magazine, The London Times and GQ.  ‘Days with my father’ (published 2010) is a series of photographs by Toledano documenting his relationship with his father over a time span of over four years until his death in 2009. Phil Toledano’s father was suffering with Dementia, a degenerative condition resulting in the deterioration of cognitive function most commonly affecting memory. Sufferers of the disease are eventually unable to function and perform basic daily tasks such as remembering to feed and wash themselves. In the later stages of the condition, patients are unable to recognise their loved ones and experience a lot of stress as a result. It could be said that Toledano’s motivation to document his father’s illness was to highlight how devastating the condition is, both physically and emotionally not only for the individual themselves but those closest to them.  Toledano himself said, ‘There are ideas that I find really intellectually interesting, and there are things that are like, my soul, nakedly exposed, right? Like “Days with my Father,” It is clear that for Toledano the project was extremely personal to him and he used it as the opportunity to show the strength between him and his father in such tragic circumstances.

 It is fair to say that the photographs in this series are striking and sad, yet at the same time they are full of strength and love. Tender exchanges between Toledano and his father are captured, freezing them as moments in time forever. The context in which the photographs have been taken is a deep reflection on someone else’s wellbeing. The wider issues that the images address include the social implications surrounding ‘palliative’ and ‘end of life’ care.  This series ‘opens the door’ on both the mental and physical challenges that his father faced in the last few years of his life due to a combination of ageing and dementia.   The image of his father staring in to his own reflection is particularly haunting because the expression on his face is blank and confused. The lighting of the image also creates a crushing atmosphere, Toledano’s eyes look dark and tired.

The image reveals the full extent of his father’s frailty and how the Dementia has ravaged his mind and completely taken over his body.  

  The set of photographs are a personal record of Toledano’s relationship with his father until his death which addresses the social issues surrounding ageing and the acceptance of our own and our loved ones’ mortality in a frank yet sensitive way. Toledano’s work is a documentation, so the images are appropriately presented in real-life ‘colour’ using just the available lighting. It could be argued that this creates a link between the subject and those who view it because the setting in which the photographs have been taken in are familiar as they portray an easily recognisable environment.   

  It could be argued that the relationship between Toledano and his father portrays an immensely strong, unique and irreplaceable bond between them. Toledano reflects on caring for his father and how he sees it as a token of thanks: ‘This is my hypothesis; I think that when I was born, when I was a kid, my Dad decided he was going to be a father and that meant giving up certain aspects of his personality. When my mum died, I think my father reverted to somebody he used to be when he was younger’ (Toledano, 2011) There is an underlying aspect of respect for his father’s sacrifices that he made for him which he cannot now provide because of his father’s dementia. It would be fair to say that Toledano’s father has almost swapped places with his son, reverting to becoming a helpless child who needs to be fed, washed and watched over. His father is a shell of his former self which must been painful for his son to experience daily. It can be argued that the photographs almost became a visual diary which is completely personal to Toledano and his father because it records many emotion and challenges that he had to face both as a carer and son.   

  The following image is particularly poignant because of the context in which the image was taken, days before his father’s passing. The exchange of hands gives an insight into the strong love Toledano’s father has for his close family and friends in his final days. The lighting is very strong in the photograph, the rest of the shot is cast in shadow whilst the hands are illuminated by light, emphasising the lines and wrinkles on is father’s hands. The overall tonality is very quiet and subdued, adding to the somber mood in the photographs.   

     

The context in which Toledano has taken these images is very personal and unique to both himself and his father. When he started taking photographs of his father he did not expect to receive the attention and appreciation for his work as so many people in a similar situation reached out to him as they could relate to his work. ‘I got two emails today from people saying they had just found out their parents had a terminal disease and reading this project had re-orientated the way they were going to approach; they were going to deal with the last years of their parent’s life. So, it’s a real honour for me to have done something so inadvertently but helped so many people.’ (Toledano, 2011). It is evident that Toledano’s work has provided support and triggered a response from the general public to talk and open up about their struggles with ageing parents who are chronically ill.

 The issue of valid consent should be discussed in regard to Toledano’s documentation, he was photographing a very old and frail man who was in the secondary stages of a severe mental disease and it could be argued that he would not be fully aware of what his son was doing. Very intimate and personal moments were included in the project including scenes of him in disarray which are particularly upsetting as well as private situations such as being washed in the shower. If his father was well and younger he may not have given his permission for these photographs to be taken and published for a wider audience. Even though ageing is not addressed enough in the media, it does need to be handled sensitively within the permission of the subjects being used/shown.

 Overall, Toledano’s series of photographs offer a very frank insight into the management and social implications of ageing and ageing related disorders such as Dementia. Although, the consent of the images can be questioned, as a son Toledano created a memoir of his father to highlight both the physical and psychological strains of elderly healthcare and the true extent of Dementia and how it can impact both the individual and their loved ones.    

   Sam Taylor Wood is a film director, photographer who was born in London in 1967. At the age of nine, her parents’ marriage broke down and she moved to a hippie community with her mother and sister. By the young age of 15, she was abandoned by her mother and had to look after her much younger half-brother resulting in a very unhappy childhood. Taylor-Wood was quoted to say that she became an artist to reinvent herself after her ‘restricted’ childhood and she graduated from Goldsmiths in (when) with a degree in Fine Art.

  Taylor Wood's motivation for photography, film-making and other art-based projects is clear from the following quote: ‘I found my voice the minute I started to think in terms of film and in terms of photography and images and people. My work is pretty much about emotions, different states of being that have really preoccupied artists for however long, centuries.’ (Sam Taylor-Wood, 2008).  Therefore, it is fair to say that she is actively motivated by global issues experienced by many people including ageing and mortality.

   

Her short film pieces 'Still Life' (2001) and 'A little death’' (2002) clearly addresses the biological process of ageing, showing the actual decay and the breakdown of animal and fruit flesh.  Taylor Wood herself has spoken very clearly about both of her projects and what they mean: “Still Life conveyed a grace in the decay but with A Little Death it was not only violent, but shockingly violent.’ It is clear that she was aware of how graphic the footage was and the impact that would have on her audience, it was an artistic risk she would take to portray ageing in this light.                                                                                                  

   

 Little Death (2002)

  'A little death' is a time-frame image that involves the decay and disintegration of a hare placed alongside a piece of fruit. As time passes, the subjects begin to change shape, colour and even the texture and are transformed into a completely new image. Mold begins to manifest and grow over the subject matter, creating an image that very much captures the morality of natural things. It would be fair to say that many people would find this piece is very powerful it embraces the power of time and portrays the implications of this as an opportunity for new material to grow and replace what was once there.    

 Still life (2001)

    

Similarly, 'Still life' (2001) incorporates the concept of 'death' into the manipulation of perishable items; however, it is juxtaposed with a ‘Bic’ biro which remains seemingly intact throughout the work. The placement of the biro is believed to have a profound meaning, “Wood included this pen in the frame because it is showing two common objects seen in everyday life that can and cannot be affected by the passage of time. The pen is an object which appearance will not change over time naturally.” (Emberson, 2011). In her work, Sam Taylor-Wood has successfully challenged the constraints of beauty ideals and the process of decay. Creating a moving image and incorporating a fine art into her work enabled her to create a unique and delicate piece of work addressing the biological process of ageing in a shamelessly upfront way.

   Conclusion Question: It could be argued that the process of ageing is a very personal experience; is it possible for any artist or photographer to produce a body of work on this topic that would resonate with a majority of its viewers?  

 My personal connections with ageing have developed as I have grown older, seeing my own grandparents age over the years. My grandmother especially as embraced ageing; filling her time with various clubs and activities, maintaining a positive attitude to her age and making the most of each and every opportunity she comes across to spend time with her family. This made me want to explore ageing differently, embracing the ageing body and shedding light on those who are elderly but live their life to the fullest regardless.

 From research I have carried out, it appears ‘ageing’ is not a topic that is at the forefront of many popular media outlets. A talk was held at Queen Mary University of London in 2015 entitled 'Portraying Ageing: The Cultural Assumptions and Practical Implications' and one of the main issues discussed was the fact that fashion had traditionally been designed and intended for younger people. This can be backed up from the hundreds of magazines bought on a daily basis that that show our preoccupation with youth and the type of beauty associated with it from which people fantasise and internalise as what they should emulate. An implication of this ‘youth obsessed’ media coverage could be the lowered self-esteem felt by of older people who feel ‘invisible’ because they cannot see their body type or fashion style portrayed positively in the media. When older people are featured in the media it is usually in a negative light, for example news outlets often report on the rising demand for social care for the elderly and the crisis in which our country is now in concerning that matter. Another issue for elderly people being represented in the media is that they are normally featured to advertise items such as ‘over 50s life insurance’ or funeral plans, elderly actors and actresses are only considered for this pessimistic and stereotypical jobs.

 When Phil Toledano’s book which documented his father’s terminal illness was published, it compelled hundreds of people to write to him and share their own experiences of caring for elderly and sick parent. I would argue that because this body of work provoked this response from his audience, it does seem to prove the fact that his work has resonated with them. Toledano himself said that people had written to him to say that the images made them feel more appreciative of their own elderly parents and that it encouraged them to visit their parents more regularly. Therefore, it is evident that photographing imagery that is associated with ageing as a concept and a social implication can make people talk and have a connection to the work as the subject matter is personal to us. I think the most important aspect of Toledano’s work is that we, the viewer, understand the context in which they have been taken. His father’s terminal prognosis and degenerative memory issues meant that the photographs have a deeper meaning. The work that he produced is also emotive, the images of his father gazing at himself is upsetting to see because of the nature of his condition. When we can feel an emotion from an image, it will resonate with us and it will stick in our mind for some time. 

 Each of the artists I have studied in this essay have approached the concept of ageing and mortality in a different way which probably has provoked different responses within their potential audiences. John Coplans seems to resist this concept through his raw and shameless self-portraits which shed a light on the type of ‘real’ bodies that make up a huge number of the ageing population, and ignoring any ‘perceived’ rules of physical beauty. I believe this would create a strong resonation with Coplan's audience, by exposing his own frailty and unique body shape to his peers may encourage them to embrace their own bodies and be proud of what their bodies have been through. He doesn't enhance aspects of his body in any way, instead his portrayal is a truthful documentation that successfully breaks the ‘media’ standard of beauty. I believe that John Coplan’s series of photographs has resonated with a potentially wider audience than Toledano because he photographed subject matter that is personal to many ageing people, that is, the truthful appearance of an ageing human body. His self-confidence in taking these photographs and then presenting them to the world would surely evoke a response from his peers because the subject matter is often hidden from us in the media and shamed upon. Also, people may not shame others for their bodies but themselves, which is just as demoralising because they find it hard to accept themselves. I believe it is refreshing to see an artist who is older and who is confident to use his own body to break social stereotypes that can make mature people self-conscious over how they look and how their body is changing as they age. I believe that in contemporary Western media and society in general, the ageing body is often reviled and frowned upon. I am hopeful that Coplan's work has been able to help older people of all

ages to not feel shame on their body but appreciation for what an amazing and complex system it is, helping us to get through our day to day life for many years. 

 Coplan’s upfront portrayal of ageing could have potentially resonated with a wider audience because the experience of the ageing body is universal but may not have had such a deep impact as Toledano’s documentation of Dementia which is a devastating deterioration of the body and mind altogether.

   In contrast, Sam Taylor-Wood’s work is symbolic and harder to decipher, she uses a composition of still life subjects such as decaying fruit and carcasses to create a composition. It is not clear whether her work would gather as much attention as Toledano in the same light. However, her work is very art based and she is very prevalent in the industry, so her work is likely to be viewed critically and to a large audience.    

   There is a stark difference between the work of Wood and Toledano, I would argue that Toledano's work is much more informative and personal to the audience because it is a real-life documentation. Even though Sam Taylor-Wood's pieces show how 'beautiful' and colourful decay and ageing can be it fails to have a personal link with the audience. For many, they may not even be able to identify the purpose of the bic biro being placed in 'Still life' (2001) an ordinary object that fails to disintegrate.     

      During my project, I wanted to explore the fragility of the ageing human body and John Coplans is a strong inspiration because he was fearless with exposing his own ageing imperfections in his self-portraiture work. I have edited some of images with a very high structure to accentuate each and every fine line similar to Coplan’s images that have a high contrast and detail to include these unique textures found in ageing skin and bodies. I believe personally that ageing bodies are much more interesting because they have been used and exactly what they have been through is very clearly documented on them in the shape of scarring and texture. 

  Example of one of my images exploring ageing and texture.

  In my own exploration of ageing, I took inspiration from both Phillip Toledano and John Coplans. Toledano’s meaningful exploration of his elderly father influenced my photographs of my grandparents in terms of soft lighting and effective composition. The ‘Days with my father’ series illustrates and communicates the day to day challenges and insignificant yet special moments that Toledano’s father experienced during his final months. My images include ordinary moments with my grandmother as she continues to lead a busy life. To a certain extent, my photographs contrast to Toledano’s in terms of my subjects who are well and ‘living’, they are not in the final stages of a terminal illness. However, Toledano’s work was appropriate to my project because I wanted to emulate his reflective style and sensitive handling of ageing which I Believe is evident in my photographs. 

    

I also photographed my grandfather and the image of his hand grasping onto his walking stick, it is representative of both his disability but his strength to deal with it each day of his life. The image has personal significance to myself because my grandfather is a very strong-willed person, so I wanted to create imagery that reveal his personality and motivation to continue a normal day to day life. I believe my images of my grandparents are quite reflective, many of them feature a moment of their day or a quiet time of contemplation. 

 Another artist that inspired me to portray ageing was Zoe Barker, she is a small freelance photographer whose exhibition ‘SABA- the rust of time’ explores both the ‘living of life and the passage of time’. Her work has also been shared by news outlets, including her work called ‘The house of two sisters’.

 Barker’s project is called ‘SABA’ which in Japanese translates to ‘The rust of time’, therefore I can gather that the work has a strong message and ethos about how ageing is not only beautiful but essential in change. This theory is backed up by the multiple images that Barker has taken that we can interpret as positive captures of ‘time’ working on physical material and human life. Her work is able to resonate with her audience because she photographs the rust of everyday items and accentuates these natural processes in terms of texture and colour to create ‘beautiful’ final images.

 Saba-Rust of time

 Unlike the work of Toledano and Coplans, the images do not have a personal connection with Zoe herself however it can be argued that the images have a deep connection to the people who lived in the locations many years ago. Ornaments, photographs, clothing and everyday objects give the audience snippets of the lives that were led in each abandoned home. This creates a direct human connection between the audience and inhabitants as belongings that we deem sentimental are left to decay and change form.

 In my own work, Barker’s work inspired me to find ordinary compositions of buildings and windows to create haunting beautiful images of abandoned places. I wanted to use natural light and shadow within this broken down and decaying imagery to highlight the endless detail and natural colours that are created when an object breaks down and decays. In this particular image I was fascinated by the minute detail in the peeling paint and decay of the wood, I wanted to show that these natural processes are interesting and aesthetically pleasing.  

   Example of one of my decaying building images

   

 I do believe all three photographers shed light on the implications and reality of ageing in a productive yet sensitive light. Toledano and Coplans face the harsh realities of ageing on both the body and mind as Sam Taylor-Wood approaches the subject in a more symbolic fashion. It is intriguing to see how each of the artists has interpreted their subjects to convey a deeper message behind their work concerning mortality and age. In regard to the audience, I think that Toledano and Coplans can successfully captive their viewers because the subject that they photograph is themselves or their loved ones and it is easy to apply your own emotions to the images. Sam Taylor-Wood’s images aren’t as personal and more symbolic. Her work is more successful in regard in an artistic way but wouldn’t have the ability to resonate with its audience on a personal level.  

   

Bibliography    

   

Cooper Union Memorial, John Coplans Trust, 2004. John Coplans: An artist biography. 2004. Vimeo. [Online] Date accessed: 14/11/16.    

Available from: https://vimeo.com/184032913    

     Emberson, A. 2011. Sam Taylor Wood (Still life). 21/1/11. Andrew Emberson - Word press site. [Online]. Date accessed: 7/11/16.    

Available from: https://andrewemberson12.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/sam-taylor-wood/    

    

Grammoll, M. 2 2015. Story analysis: Phillip Toledano’s “Days with my father”. 28/9/15. Mckenna Grammoll Word press site. [Online]. Date accessed: 13/1/17.    

Available from: https://mckennagramoll.wordpress.com/2015/09/28/story-analysis-phillip-toledanos-days-with-my-father/    

    

Fox News. 201. Days with my father interview. 1/6/11. Fox news. Date accessed: 7/12/16    

Available from:  http://video.foxnews.com/v/927089568001/#sp=show-clips     

    

Roshdy. S. 2016. The body and shame: An exploration of the progression of John Coplans. 26/9/16. Shajara Roshdy- Youtube. [Online]. Date accessed: 23/11/16    

Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2BJRwbCTCY    

    

Taylor-Wood, S. 2002. Little Death. Sam Taylor-Wood website. [Online]. Date accessed: 9/11/16.    

Available from: http://samtaylorjohnson.com/moving-image/art/a-little-death-2002     

    

Wikipedia, 2016. John Coplans. 6/10/16. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [Online] Date accessed: 14/11/16.     

Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Coplans     

   

WVIZPBS, 2008. Brief applause: Sam Taylor-Wood. 11/2/08. WVIZPBS- Youtube. Date accessed: 9/11/16.    

Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzuWjwcqTcs  

    

Zimmerman, P. 2008. Sam Taylor-Wood: "Still Life" and the acceptance of mortality. 10/4/08. Et Cetera: Publick and Privat Curiosities. [Online]. Date accessed: 7/11/16.     

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Available from : http://www.agewatch.org.uk/ageing-why-and-how/how-is-ageing-portrayed/   

[brajeshupadhyay]

Today, and every day, roughly 190 Britons will die from dementia – about 1,350 every week – and numbers are steadily and ominously rising. It is by far our biggest killer, having overtaken heart disease five years ago as fatalities from heart attacks and strokes continue to decline. Within the next few years, more than one million Britons will be living with the degenerative brain condition. It’s a statistic made all the more shocking when you consider that the dementia death toll is almost four times the number claimed each week at the moment by the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK. But despite these grim figures there is hope, as the latest medical evidence suggests that whether you develop dementia is not simply down to fate. Dementia, a degenerative brain condition, is by far our biggest killer, having overtaken heart disease five years ago as fatalities from heart attacks and strokes continue to decline Although incurable, a staggering 40 per cent of cases could be prevented in the first place, according to a global report revealed at the Alzheimer’s Association International Congress last week. Lifestyle factors, such as diet, lack of exercise – and even hearing loss – are responsible for a whopping 340,000 of Britain’s 850,000 dementia cases, says the report. The leading scientists behind the new study identified 12 risk factors that make us more likely to develop the disease. Crucially, it’s within our power to address each one of them if we want to stay healthy into old age. The risks begin to mount in childhood, the report said, but even making small lifestyle changes into your 70s could have a significant impact. The report represents a huge leap forward in the understanding of the disease. Three years ago, the same research group became the first to prove how much of dementia is preventable, revealing the role of obesity, smoking, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Hearing loss, if untreated, depression and too little exercise also contribute to an individual’s risk, while lack of education and social isolation were also factors flagged by the experts. Now, three more avoidable dangers have been added to that list based on new data: traumatic head injury, air pollution and heavy alcohol consumption. The authors, from The Lancet’s Commission on Dementia, a group of international experts, say the findings should be a wake-up call for us all, and urged everyone to take responsibility for their own health. They said: ‘Around 40 per cent of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by eliminating these risk factors.’ So what can we do? Well, making changes to diet and lifestyle has a significant effect, not just on reducing the chances of developing dementia but also keeping the mind sharper and younger. Around 40 per cent of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by ‘eliminating risk factors’, such as giving up smoking, said experts (file photo) A recent Swedish study found that being a healthy weight, keeping blood pressure in check and staying fit and active were three key factors found to significantly improve mental performance. More than 500 participants, aged 60 to 77, were advised to eat lots of fruit and vegetables, whole grains, fish and low-fat dairy, while exercise plans involved strength training at a gym plus group exercises to improve aerobic fitness, such as jogging and aerobics.  The researchers followed them for two years and found they performed better in mental tests by the end, having boosted their overall health. Similar lifestyle changes were linked to a 37 per cent reduced dementia risk in another trial involving 3,000 volunteers. Indeed, just making a change to one area, such as giving up smoking, was found to have a big knock-on effect. It’s something I take seriously, because I’ve seen first-hand how devastating dementia can be. I was 17 when my much-loved granny, Olive, died of the disease, aged 74, having spent two years being cared for by my mum, her only child, in our family home. Olive suffered from Lewy body dementia, the second most common type after Alzheimer’s, accounting for ten to 15 per cent of cases. Looking back now, the risk factors described by The Lancet’s Commission were all there. My grandfather Jimmy, married to Olive for 40 years, collapsed and died from an aortic aneurism aged 65, just two weeks after retiring from his job as a draughtsman at the Rolls-Royce plant in East Kilbride, south of Glasgow. Her world fell apart. In time, neighbours moved on. Friends passed away. Adored: Jo Macfarlane as a baby, sitting on granny Olive’s knee before her dementia set in. Olive suffered from Lewy body dementia, the second most common type after Alzheimer’s A fall meant she feared going out and she spent a lot of time alone in her empty house, staring out of the window. She began to forget to eat. When she came to live with us in Fife, 80 miles away on the opposite coast of Scotland, the warm, adoring woman who’d doted on my two younger sisters and me was vanishing, bit by bit. Every morning the house was woken by her fearful wails ‘Help me! Help’, as she opened her eyes and, again, had no idea where she was.  Living near a busy road increases the chance of dementia by 10% Most painfully, she forgot she had a daughter or grandchildren. When it was explained to her gently one day, she sobbed bitterly: ‘No one ever told me I had a daughter.’ It’s a story that will no doubt resonate with thousands of British families, on whom the burden of care so often falls.  The cost of treating and supporting the dementia population in the UK is £34.7 billion a year, and it’s set to nearly treble by 2040. Unpaid carers, like my mum, save the economy a further £13.9 billion a year. Imagine if the emotional – and economic – burden could be lifted significantly. A one per cent reduction in dementia cases would mean 8,500 fewer people living with the disease.  Eliminating all 12 risk factors, the report’s authors say, could save 340,000 from being struck by it – 40 per cent of the 850,000 people estimated to have dementia in the UK. In this special Mail on Sunday Health section, we’ll explain how to reduce your risk – from looking at ways to combat heart disease and diabetes, to highlighting surprising methods of prevention, such as improving your hearing. There is still much about dementia risk that science can’t explain, but there is cause for optimism. Armed with new knowledge, it’s never been more possible to alter the course of our later lives for the better. Brain-boosting breakfasts Crustless quiche with feta, peas and spinach Bake for 30–35mins, or until just set and golden. Serve warm or cold (267 calories per serving) SERVES 4 1 bagful fresh spinach, or 200g of frozen spinach, defrosted and with the excess water squeezed out 50g cheddar cheese, grated Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/GM 4. Fry the onion over a medium heat for 5-10mins, or until softened. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and stir in half the cheese, half the onions and season well. Pour the egg mixture into a non-stick dish and scatter over the remaining onion as well as the peas, spinach and remaining cheese. Bake for 30–35mins, or until just set and golden. Serve warm or cold, sliced into wedges.    Peach and apricot breakfast pots In 2 small glasses, layer the apricots and peaches, followed by yoghurt (305cal per serving) SERVES 2 Toast the oats lightly in a pan on a low heat, stirring frequently, until they reach a golden colour (roughly 5mins). In 2 small glasses, layer the apricots and peaches, followed by a layer of yogurt, followed by another layer of fruit, until you reach the top of the glass. Top with a sprinkle of the toasted oats and nuts. Banana and peanut butter overnight oats In the morning, loosen with a little water or milk if needed (380 calories per serving) SERVES 1 The night before, stir the skimmed milk and the cinnamon into your oats. In the morning, loosen with a little water or milk if needed. Top with chopped banana, yogurt and a drizzle of peanut butter. Blistered tomatoes on toast Turn up the heat and allow tomatoes to sizzle until the skins start to blister (213cal per serving) SERVES 1 Pinch of dried mixed herbs 1 large slice wholemeal or rye bread Gently fry the garlic in 1 tsp of oil for 1min, then add the cherry tomatoes and mixed herbs. Turn up the heat and allow the tomatoes to sizzle until the skins start to blister. Toast the bread and drizzle the remaining tsp of oil on the bread. Place the tomatoes on top and season with salt and pepper. Baked eggs with greens and yoghurt Add the spinach and season with salt and pepper, then mix (343 calories per serving) SERVES 2 1/2 100g pack of fresh spinach, or 80g frozen spinach, with water squeezed out 2 spring onions, chopped  2 tbsp low-fat natural yogurt 2 slices rye or wholemeal bread, toasted Heat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/GM 6. If using fresh spinach, put it in a colander, then pour over a kettle of boiling water to wilt the leaves. Squeeze out excess water. In a large, oven-proof pan, heat the oil before frying off the spring onions for a couple of minutes until softened. Add the spinach and season with salt and pepper, then mix. Make two small wells in the pan and crack in two eggs. Put the pan in the oven for 12-15mins, then serve with yogurt spooned on top, alongside the toast. Life-enhancing lunches Roast sweet potato stuffed with smoky black beans Cut the cooked sweet potato in half and spoon the bean mixture inside (343cal per serving) SERVES 2 1 tin black or kidney beans Pinch of chilli powder (optional) Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/GM 6. Pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork and roast for 45-60mins. Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the garlic, paprika, cumin and chilli, if using. Cook for 1min. Add the drained beans, 50ml of water and a pinch of salt and pepper and stir thoroughly. Cook until this is all warmed through. Remove from the heat and, just before serving, stir in the lime juice. Cut the cooked sweet potato in half and spoon the bean mixture inside. Meatballs and beans in tomato sauce Place 4 meatballs in each bowl with sauce and serve alone, or with bread (450cal per serving) SERVES 4 For the meatballs: 1 slice stale or toasted wholemeal bread For the sauce: 1 red pepper, finely chopped 1 tin butter beans, or any other variety Blitz the bread in a blender  to make breadcrumbs. Tip into a bowl and mix thoroughly with the beef, garlic, egg and seasoning. Roll into small balls – about 16 – and place on a plate in the fridge. Gently fry the garlic for 1-2mins, then add the onion, pepper and courgette and fry for a further 5mins, until browned slightly. Next, add the tomatoes, beans and purée. Fill the empty tin with water twice, add this to the mix and leave to simmer for 15mins. In another pan, fry the meatballs for 12mins. Taste the sauce and check for seasoning. Place 4 meatballs in each bowl with the sauce and serve alone, or with bread. Buttery white beans and tuna Add a final drizzle of oil and some chopped fresh herbs if you have any (329cal per serving) SERVES 2 1 tin tuna in spring water Pinch of dried mixed herbs Chopped fresh herbs (optional) Finely chop the garlic and fry in the olive oil for 2-3mins. Add the drained beans, salt and pepper and mixed herbs. Cook until warmed through. Finely chop the onion and drain the tuna and gently toss into the warmed mixture.  Serve alongside one slice of toasted bread. Add a final drizzle of oil and some chopped fresh herbs if you have any. Sardine, tomato and pepper pizzettes Drizzle over sardine oil and place on middle shelf of oven for 15-25mins (391cal per serving) SERVES 2 For the dough: Half a sachet fast-acting dried yeast (4g) For the topping: 8 cherry tomatoes, cut in half 1 green or yellow pepper, chopped 4 black olives, finely chopped Pinch of dried mixed herbs Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/ GM 6. Make the dough by adding water to yeast and stirring until dissolved, then gradually pour wet mixture into flour and salt until it has dough consistency. Mix together into a ball, then knead for 10mins before leaving dough to double in size for 30mins. Break off 4 palm-sized balls and leave remaining dough in fridge or freezer for later use. Roll the 4 chunks of dough into mini pizzas and prick bases. Drain sardines but retain 1 tbsp oil. Thinly spread tomato purée on bases, then add sardines, cherry tomatoes, peppers, chopped olives and herbs. Drizzle over sardine oil and place on middle shelf of oven for 15-25mins. Chicken and roasted vegetable salad Season with sprinkle of salt, then roast for 20-25m until chicken is cooked (531cal per serving) SERVES 2 1 small red pepper, chopped Large handful cherry tomatoes, halved 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 100g salad leaves or lettuce (any kind you like) For the dressing: 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil Heat oven to 210C/Fan 190C/GM 8. In a bowl, mix the chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, pepper, cherry tomatoes and olive oil until all is coated. Put the chicken and vegetables in a baking tray that’s large enough so everything rests in a single layer. Season with sprinkle of salt, then roast for 20-25mins until chicken is cooked through. When cooked, slice the thighs. Whisk dressing ingredients in a salad bowl, then add the chicken, vegetables and salad leaves. Mix well before serving. Delectable dinners Courgette and minty potato parmesan tart Put in the centre of the oven for 25mins or until the egg has set (502 calories per serving) SERVES 2 1/2 roll (160g) of ready-rolled puff pastry 4 new potatoes, boiled and sliced 1 courgette, sliced lengthways or in round slices 2 tsp fresh mint, chopped Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/GM 6. Place the pastry on a lined, greased baking tray and fold the edges up and inwards to create a thin crust. Arrange the potato and courgette on the pastry, then gently pour the egg on top. Sprinkle with the lemon zest and parmesan. Put in the centre of the oven for 25mins or until the egg has set and the crust is golden brown. Sprinkle with chopped mint. Crunchy cod and sweet potato chips with smashed minty peas Dip the cod fillets into the egg and roll in the breadcrumbs. Bake for 25m (520cal per serving) SERVES 2 2 skinless fillets of cod 1 slice stale or toasted bread Sprig of fresh mint, chopped Preheat the oven to 220C/Fan 200C/GM 6. Chop the sweet potato into bitesize chunks, place in a baking dish, drizzle with oil and sprinkle on the paprika. Roast for 45mins. Blitz the bread into crumbs and mix with a pinch of salt, pepper and the lemon zest. Dip the cod fillets into the egg and roll in the breadcrumbs. Bake for 25mins. Boil the frozen peas until slightly overcooked, then gently mash with mint and butter. Squeeze the juice of the lemon on the fish. Stuffed peppers with a ‘meaty’ mushroom filling Top with the pepper ‘lids’, cover in foil and bake for 35-40mins (345 calories per serving) SERVES 2 200g mushrooms (any kind), diced 1 garlic clove, finely chopped Heat the oven to 220C/Fan 200C/GM 7. Make breadcrumbs by blitzing the bread in a blender, or finely chopping. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the mushrooms for 5mins, until tender.  Turn off the heat and add garlic, tomatoes, breadcrumbs, walnuts and pesto until thoroughly combined. Slice the top off the peppers and remove the seeds. Place in a roasting tin and spoon the mushroom filling into the pepper cavities.  Top with the pepper ‘lids’, cover in foil and bake for 35-40mins. Easy one-person paella Stir the seafood mix into the pan and cover with a lid. Simmer for 5m (565 calories per serving) 1/2 onion, finely chopped 1 sausage, divided into small balls (or a handful of chicken breast chunks) 1/2 tsp mixed dried herbs 75g brown rice, or paella rice if you can’t get brown 1 tbsp white wine (optional) Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the sausage balls, onion and garlic for 8mins. Then add paprika, herbs and rice, stirring continuously.  Splash in the wine and, once it has evaporated, stir in the chopped tomatoes and chicken stock. Season and cook for 10-15mins, stirring occasionally until rice is almost cooked.  Stir the seafood mix into the pan and cover with a lid. Simmer for 5mins, or until the seafood is cooked through. Squeeze over the lemon juice.   Chickpea and courgette parmigiana Sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs and parmesan, then bake for 35-40m (422cal per serving) SERVES 4 6 courgettes, sliced into 1cm lengths 2 balls mozzarella, sliced 50g parmesan cheese, grated Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/GM 6. Coat the courgette slices in oil and sear the slices in a pan for 3-4mins each side, then set aside. In the same pan, cook the onion and garlic until soft. Heat the chopped tomatoes and chickpeas in a saucepan, adding the cooked onion mixture, salt and pepper and letting it bubble for a few minutes. Spoon some of the tomato mixture into the base of an ovenproof dish, then layer with courgette and mozzarella. Repeat until all ingredients are used up. Sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs and parmesan, then bake for 35-40mins until bubbling and golden brown on top. Perfect puds   Spiced compote with honey yogurt and nuts Heat rhubarb in a small pan, using dessertspoon of syrup and a splash of water. Add cinnamon and allspice and simmer until rhubarb has disintegrated (222 calories per serving) SERVES 2 1/2 tin of rhubarb in light syrup, or apples or pears 4 heaped tbsp low-fat Greek yogurt Heat rhubarb in a small pan, using dessertspoon of syrup and a splash of water. Add cinnamon and allspice and simmer until rhubarb has disintegrated. Allow to cool and serve with 2 tbsp yogurt each, a sprinkling of nuts and a drizzle of honey. Chocolate mousse with raspberries Fold in egg white – whisked to stiff peaks – followed by chocolate. Spoon mixture into 2 small glasses or espresso cups and put in fridge for at least 30mins (296 calories per serving) SERVES 2 1/3 of a 100g bar of dark chocolate 3 tbsp low-fat Greek yogurt Melt chocolate in a glass bowl, placed over a pan of boiling water. Add sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add half yogurt to the bowl and mix, then transfer to another bowl before stirring in the rest of the yogurt.  Fold in egg white – whisked to stiff peaks – followed by chocolate. Spoon mixture into 2 small glasses or espresso cups and put in fridge for at least 30mins. Serve alongside a handful of raspberries. Tinned pear and nut crumble Mix together, first with a spoon, then with your fingers, until you have a rough, crumbly mixture. Scatter over the peaches, then bake for 35mins (264 calories per serving) SERVES 6 3 x 410g tinned pears in juice 1 tbsp sugar or sweetener 50g hazelnuts, or any nuts you like Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/GM 6. Drain the pears, but reserve the juice. Tip pears & juice into a baking dish or 6 ceramic pots. In a bowl, mix flour, oats, butter, sugar, nuts and cinnamon.  Mix together, first with a spoon, then with your fingers, until you have a rough, crumbly mixture. Scatter over the peaches, then bake for 35mins until golden and crunchy on top. Home-made stracciatella gelato After the last stir, melt the chocolate either slowly in a microwave, or in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water. While stirring the gelato, pour in the chocolate (174 calories per serving) MAKES 10 PORTIONS 2-3 tbsp granulated sugar The night before making the gelato, place a bowl in the freezer. Next day, pour the milk and sugar into a medium pot and heat gently, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has just dissolved. Take off the heat and stir in cream, then let mixture cool before placing it in the bowl that’s been chilling in the freezer. Leave in fridge for 3hrs before transferring to freezer. Stir ice cream 3-4 times, roughly every 4hrs, to break up ice crystals – or use a blender. After the last stir, melt the chocolate either slowly in a microwave, or in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water. While stirring the gelato, pour in the chocolate, then place in freezer for 30mins before serving. The post The simple tweaks that can prevent dementia (plus delicious recipes to help beat it) appeared first on Shri Times News.

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