Brain Teaser, #6.

One segment of the game show Let's Make a Deal had three doors, behind one of which was a car and behind each of the other two was a goat. The contestant would win whatever was behind the door he/she chose. The contestant chose one of the three doors, but before it was opened, the host opened up a different door that had a goat behind it. To have the greatest chance of winning the car, should the contestant open the door that was his/her original choice, or open the remaining door?

Embrace Fall.

Put on some fleece, grab some cash, a friend, and a camera... and head out to the Chicago Botanic Gardens (see link in favorites). But don't wait too long as I suspect they won't look this nice for too much longer now. At least it will get you back outside for a little bit more this year.

And please note: the gardens are not actually in the city of Chicago, but only about 45 minutes from the IL-WI border, in the 'burbs. (Lord knows why)

Discuss, Poll #38, Picking.

No, not picking your nose. I'm talking about picking produce mostly... like picking your own apples, strawberries, raspberries, etc. Didn't you used to do this as a kid with your family? No? How about getting your family's pumpkin or Christmas tree? Nothing. Well, just fill out the poll then.

If you have some good stories, let's hear 'em. And to entice you to leave a comment, I have some good ones that I'll share if I get a few to start it off.

Results, Poll #37, Winter Blues.

I'm feeling some winter blues already, so no plethora of commentary this week, here's the results:

> 0 people (0%) chose "drink early and drink often".
> 1 people (8%) chose "eat early and eat often".
> 1 people (8%) chose "exercise early and exercise often".
> 2 people (16%) chose "all of the above".
> 4 people (33%) chose "they don't really bother me" - i don't like you.
> 4 people (33%) chose "i wish i had a good method" - c'mon people! the person that suggested tanning up to twice a week, who I call 'Miss Melanoma Head', isn't that much help.

Pretty dull, right? Only 12 voters too... even more depressing. New poll up now, if you care.

Randy Pausch, Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

View this. Do it now, I dare you.

One of my favorite topics...

DA BEARS!!!!

[getting it started]

In case you didn't watch NBC on Sunday night, the Chicago Bears played the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, don't get me wrong, I've had fun in Philly, they have some great bike shops... but their fans are known the world over for being some of the most caustic in the league. One year, in their own stadium, they threw snowballs at Santa Claus. This game had the most fan fights I'd ever seen at a NFL game. You can also now call or text a special Bears Task Force and report rowdy fans during the game - kinda cool.

This guy will be the rest of the pics. He was two rows in front of us the whole game. I know you want to get a better look at his face paint, don't you?

[the other side]

I think he was older than my dad, had his own custom jersey (last name 'Knell') and brought his son along for the fun (or some young guy that wore another custom jersey with the same last name). He wasn't a mean drunk or anything and was actually pretty friendly to the row right in front of us. Their interactions gave me the best chance for a good head-on shot.

Ta-Da!

Oh, the Bears won this one in a nail-biter... once again on the strength to their defense with almost no help from their offense. Go, Orton. It was a great game/evening and I was glad I got lucky enough to go.

The China Study, Part IV, Breast Cancer.

Does anyone reading this NOT know someone who has dealt with breast cancer? Sure, this is an odd topic for a male to pick, but there's a lot of women in my life I'd like to keep around for a good long time. Don't you have some too?

"[Quote] There are at least four important breast cancer risk factors that are affected by nutrition, as shown in Chart 8.1. Many of these relationships were confirmed in the China Study after being well established in other research."[End quote]

Obviously, you can't see the chart, but I can write down the risk factors, they are:
1. early age of menarche (look it up)
2. late age of menopause
3. high levels of female hormones in blood
4. high blood cholesterol

"[Quote] With the exception of blood cholesterol, these risk factors are variations on the same theme: exposure to excess amounts of female hormones, including estrogen and progesterone, leads to an increased risk of breast cancer. Women who consume a diet rich in animal-based foods, with a reduced amount of whole, plant-based food, reach puberty earlier and menopause later, thus extending their reproductive lives. They also have higher levels of female hormones throughout their lifespan, as shown in chart 8.2.

According to our China Study data, lifetime exposure to estrogen is at least 2.5-3.0 times higher among Western women when compared with rural Chinese women. This is a huge difference for such a critically important hormone. To use the words of one of the leading breast cancer research groups in the world, "there is overwhelming evidence that estrogen levels are a critical determinant of breast cancer risk." Estrogen directly participates in the cancer process. It also tends to indicate the presence of other female hormones that play a role in breast cancer risk. Increased levels of estrogen and related hormones are a result of the consumption of typical Western diets, high in fats and animal protein and low in dietary fiber.

The difference in estrogen levels between rural Chinese women and Western women is all the more remarkable because a previous report found that a mere 17% decrease in estrogen levels could account for a huge difference in breast cancer rates when comparing different countries. Imagine, then, what 26-63% lower blood estrogen levels and eight to nine fewer reproductive years of blood estrogen exposure could mean, as we found in the China Study.

This idea that breast cancer is centered on estrogen exposure is profound because diet plays a major role in establishing estrogen exposure. This suggests that the risk of breast cancer is preventable if we eat foods that will keep estrogen levels under control. The sad truth is that most women simply are not aware of this evidence. If this information were properly reported by responsible and credible public health agencies, I suspect that many more young women might be taking very real, very effective steps to avoid this awful disease."[End quote]

If you want more on this topic from the book, and there's plenty more, please grab it from somewhere. Much of the book hits home after reading the whole thing, not just bits here and there. I'm just trying to get people interested.