More OkTrends dating/data magic: The Mathematics Of Beauty.

Interesting piece on how detrimental all that sitting is to your health. Even if you exercise:

In 2009 Dr Peter Katzmarzyk and colleagues at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center published an influential longitudinal paper examining the links between time spent sitting and mortality in a sample of more than 17,000 Canadians (available here). Not surprisingly, they report that time spent sitting was associated with increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality (there was no association between sitting and deaths due to cancer). But what is fascinating is that the relationship between sitting time and mortality was independent of physical activity levels. In fact, individuals who sat the most were roughly 50% more likely to die during the follow-up period than individuals who sat the least, even after controlling for age, smoking, and physical activity levels. Further analyses suggested that the relationship between sitting time and mortality was also independent of body weight. This suggests that all things being equal (body weight, physical activity levels, smoking, alcohol intake, age, and sex) the person who sits more is at a higher risk of death than the person who sits less.

Time in the gym does not reverse time in the chair. Sounds like lots of breaks from sitting is the way to go, if not a treadmill desk.

Turns out the Wakefield study wasn’t just wrong, it is now found to be fradulent, but not before doing tremendous damage:

The now-discredited paper panicked many parents and led to a sharp drop in the number of children getting the vaccine that prevents measles, mumps and rubella. Vaccination rates dropped sharply in Britain after its publication, falling as low as 80 by 2004. Measles cases have gone up sharply in the ensuing years.

In the United States, more cases of measles were reported in 2008 than in any other year since 1997, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 90 of those infected had not been vaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown, the CDC reported.

“But perhaps as important as the scare’s effect on infectious disease is the energy, emotion and money that have been diverted away from efforts to understand the real causes of autism and how to help children and families who live with it,” the BMJ editorial states.

Vaccinate!

I always enjoy the Grain & Gram profiles. The Blair Sligar one was particularly good, with this leaping out at me:

He and his wife have a governing rule they live by where they buy and own only what they love, no matter what the item.

Great rule, something to aspire to.

Love the Kanye West Monster Muppet Remix, even if it’s a bit disconcerting to see the Muppets in this light!

Core77 has some great shots of Bespoke Innovations custom prosthetics, along with an interview with designer Scott Summit.

Kees van Dijkhuizen finished his Cinema 2010. A darker take on 2010 than Filmography 2010, but also excellent.

I’m a few days late with this, but that doesn’t make it any less hysterical: The Year Kenny Loggins Ruined Christmas. Starts slow, but hang in there until Kenny Loggins shows up.

The Hanna trailer is very promising. Interesting turn for director Joe Wright, when you look at his filmography.

Just wanted to single out Filmography 2010 as my favorite link from the recent backlog. So good. I just read this interview with Gen Ip, the woman behind the video, and she mentioned being influenced by Kees van Dijkhuizen (e.g. Cinema 2009, keep your eyes peeled for his 2010 version soon) and Matt Shapiro (e.g. 2010: The Cinescape).

My push to have donuts declared the Breakfast of Champions probably won’t get anywhere, so I’m turning to oatmeal. I’ve been loving two oatmeal dishes I concocted—Blueberry Pie Oatmeal and Egg Fried Oatmeal—and wanted to share them with you.

The Oats

Both dishes start with the oats. No quick or instant oats for us, it’s steel cut or nothing, and Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats are the way to fly. The only non-Scottish oat to win the Golden Spurtle, and the Scots know their oats. Yummy. They take awhile to cook though, so I usually make a big batch and then reheat each morning. They don’t seem any the worse the wear to me, but a Scot may beg to differ. Anyway, this makes me about a week’s worth:

1. Bring six cups of water to a boil.
2. Add 2 cups of oats (half the bag, so next time you can just add the other half) and half a teaspoon of salt to the water, stir, and reduce the heat to low.
3. 10 minutes later, stir.
4. 10 minutes later stir again and remove from the heat.

Eat some and put the rest in the fridge.

Blueberry Pie Oatmeal

Who doesn’t want pie for breakfast? It’s not really pie, but it tastes like a dessert and it’s all healthy stuff, and it’s ridiculously easy:

1. Stick a ripe banana in your cereal bowl and mash it up with a fork.
2. Add some Wyman’s frozen blueberries to the bowl. These, as near as I can tell, are a million times better than any other frozen blueberries.
3. Add some oatmeal (if leftover add some water) and heat in the microwave for a minute or two (depends on how much you’re making).
4. Stir in some cinnamon (I add a teaspoon) and eat.

Egg Fried Oatmeal

Much like you make fried rice with cold leftover rice, you make this oatmeal with cold leftover oats. Very easy, despite my making it look like a lot of steps:

1. Mince a garlic clove.
2. Start heating your pan.
3. Get out your cold cooked oats, vegetable oil, soy sauce, and 2 or 3 eggs.
4. Scramble the eggs in a bowl.
5. Wait for your pan to get hot enough.
6. Add a tablespoon or so of oil to the pan and swirl it around.
7. Saute the garlic for a few seconds. I tip the pan to the side and saute the garlic in the pooled oil, otherwise it burns.
8. Add the eggs and scramble.
9. While the eggs are still pretty wet add some oatmeal.
10. Pour soy sauce all over the oatmeal.
11. Stir fry, breaking up the oatmeal and eggs and just generally mix everything together real well. You can kinda flatten everything out and let it sit for a bit to make a little crust on the oats, before scraping it up, if you’re into that kind of thing.
12. When it’s hot enough for you and the eggs are cooked enough for you, stop cooking, put it in a bowl, and eat it.

Too much waiting, the dam has breached:

• Two hundred and seventy 2010 movies remixed, Filmography 2010. Love it.
• The Bloggess has been on fire lately: The Walking Dead is a terrible documentary and I’m looking for a cat named Bob Barker.
• First watch the assassination Of Jesse James (is it a spoiler if the ending is in the title?) and then watch the assassination of Yogi Bear.
• Cool photos: The day Niagara Falls ran dry.
• Kate Harding: Some Shit I’m Sick of Hearing Regarding Rape and Assange.
• Finally, a video from my sport of choice: the 2010 USA Ultimate Club Championships Highlight Reel.