The Easy Way to Visit the National Parks

An  article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, entitled "Hikes in the Nation's Parks---Without the Sweat", offers suggestions for Boomers and others with somewhat limited mobility to enjoy the national parks without hiking long distances or climbing hills.  March 20, 2013. http://online.wsj.com

The article points out several must-sees such as the Mariposa Grove of giant Sequoia trees in California's Yosemite National Park. While there are several walking options available to see the thousand year old trees (some are believed to be as much as 3000 years old!), a good option is the narrated open-air tram ride that follows the same path that hikers follow.

Similarly, at the Grand Canyon, you could hike the seven miles or more to the bottom of the canyon or, again, there are free shuttle buses that allow you to hop on and off over some eight miles of the canyon's trails.  You know what choice I'm going to make when I get there.

The article also discusses various options at Acadia National Park in Maine, Wyoming's Yellowstone, the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and western North Carolina, Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and Mount Rainier in Washington State.  All of these parks have their own wonderful attractions from Yellowstone's Old Faithful and other geysers to Shenandoah's not to be missed Skyline Drive.

If you are 62 or older, you can purchase a National Parks Senior pass for $10.  It is good forever and allows you and three guests free access to all of the national parks run by the National Park Service. It is well worth the price. See "The National Park Service Senior Pass" in this blog.

Home Free Adventures

In today's Wall Street Journal is an interesting story about the Martins.  They are a retired couple who sold their home in California and are now living around the world in various countries. They have visited a number of places I have written about in this blog, including Florence and Ephesus.I think that you will enjoy reading their blog that details their world travels. I know I enjoyed it very much. www.homefreeadventures.com.

Coffee or Green Tea: Why Not Both!

If you like to drink coffee or green tea, you are probably aware of the many health benefits of each of these drinks. I have written about some of those.http://notjustforboomers.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-benefits-of-tea-and-why-starbucks.html What you may not know is the benefit of drinking both beverages in cutting the risk of stroke when the two drinks are taken individually each day.A Japanese study suggests that drinking green tea or coffee daily might lower stroke risk by about 20 percent.  Green tea contains catechins, which have an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effect, that can help regulate blood pressure and improve blood flow. And coffee contains more than just caffeine. It also contains quinides, These are compounds that can help control blood sugar, which cuts your risk of stroke by reducing your risk of Type 2 diabetes. The researchers wrote that the "combination of higher green tea and coffee consumptions contributed to the reduced risk of stroke as an interaction effect for each other," The study was published in the American Heart Association Journal, Stroke.

Movie Day: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

If you like to laugh or if you, like me, like magic,  by all means see the movie, "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone."  In theaters today, this movie is a laugh a minute.  Starring Steve Carell as the character in the title, he plays a magician, who teams up with his best friend forever, Anton (played by Steve Buscemi) as a well-worn Las Vegas magic act.  Carell is perfect as Wonderstone, an egomaniacal diva, sort of a cross of Liberace, Wayne Newton and Siegfried (or is it Roy?) who suffers an ignominious decline overnight and loses his best friend and job.

Jim Carrey plays Steve Gray, a so-called "street magician", who basically tortures himself and presents it as magic. Think David Blaine. Much of the film is presented as a contrast between the two styles of magic, with Wonderstone representing the traditional (think David Copperfield, who makes a cameo appearance).

Alan Arkin plays the grumpy, elder statesman magician who brings a spark back to Wonderstone as only Arkin can.  Speaking of spark, the lovely actress, Olivia Wilde, plays Wonderstone's assistant, who also helps to bring him back from his downhill slide.

I give it three and a half stars.

This Pill Could Save Your Life

If you are driving along Interstate 376 from downtown Pittsburgh to Pittsburgh International Airport, you will pass a building on the left side of the highway with a large round, white object atop one of the buildings alongside  the higway.  It looks like some sort of enormous pill.  In fact, that is exactly what it is: an aspirin tablet The pill is the symbol of the Bayer company which manufactures the world-famous Bayer aspirin. It is a fitting symbol of a drug that for many years has been known to be effective in helping to prevent various medical conditions such as colon cancer.  Its effectiveness in staving off a heart attack is well-documented and many physicians advise their patients at risk of a heart attack to take a small aspirin a day for that very purpose.

What was not known until recently is that aspirin may also be effective in preventing the most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma. The very name, melanoma, strikes fear in the hearts of anyone who knows even a little bit about the potentially damaging effects of over exposure to the sun's rays.In a recent study, researchers at Stanford University found that post-menopausal women who took aspirin at least twice a week were 30% less likely to develop melanoma.

While not yet definitive, according to the study's author, Dr. Jean Tang, "aspirin may have a chemo-preventive effect against the development of melanoma."

Although aspirin appears to have many beneficial effects, it also is known to cause gastrointestinal bleeding in some people. So, before starting any aspirin regimen, consult your own physician.

Movie Day: Emperor

The movie "Emperor", which opened this weekend, is misleading. From the title and the previews, it appears to be a movie about General Douglas MacArthur and his role as Supreme Commander in Japan after World War II.  And yes, MacArthur, played by Tommy Lee Jones, does appear in the movie as Supreme Commander and, yes, he does have to decide whether to prosecute Japanese Emperor Hirohito for war crimes.  But that whole aspect of the movie is really a subplot to the real story:  the hunt by a General Bonner Fellers, one of MacArthur's adjutants, to find his Japanese girl friend.  Most of the movie is shown in flashbacks of their pre-war romance.

As General Fellers, Matthew Fox, does an okay job as the obsessed general, but until the very end of the movie, he shows little passion. Jones, when on screen, chews up the scenery as only he can do. But, even there, we don't get a real sense of MacArthur and his own bombastic, ego-centric personality.

Don't get me wrong, it is not a bad picture. Shot in New Zealand and Japan, it has some remarkable scenes. I just think the movie should be promoted as a romance, love story and not a World War II movie. In addition, the whole romance angle was done so much better in the 1957 movie, "Sayonara," starring Marlon Brando.  See it on Netflix and let me know if you agree.

Why You Should Consider High Intensity Interval Training Exercise

Several months ago, I referred to a study that showed the substantial physical and mental benefits of high intensity training. High Intensity Interval Training for Better Health. That type of training involves periods of 30-40 seconds of all-out cardio followed by an equal amount of rest. Recently, a study by the Montreal Heart Institute reaffirmed those benefits.  In a four month study of obese men and women, those who performed 30 minutes daily of interval cardio training such as cycling, not only lost weight, but also scored as much as 25% higher on cognitive tests.  According to Dr. Anil Nigam, MD, the participants in the study were getting more oxygen to their brains and using that oxygen more efficiently.

So, keep it pumping, but remember to also take it easy.