Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2019 i Zoomer Magazine

If comic book superheroes aged in real time, the DC Universe would make for one heck of a super senior’s crime fighting force. Last year, Superman turned the big 8-0 while Wonder Woman remains as relevant as ever at 78. And on March 30, 2019, the Dark Knight himself turned 80, making him the only octogenarian in the world to frequent dark alleys and rappel from buildings – not to mention he’s got the coolest car of any 80-year-old out there. Batman, of course, has come a long way in his eight decades, from humble comic book beginnings to the campy 1960s Adam West TV show to his big-screen breakthrough in Tim Burton’s Batman – which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year – to the countless comics, film and…

1 HAIR TO112 Damaged Hair Mask This decadent hair mask is formulated with collagen – which we lose daily as we age in both hair and skin – to increase strength, elasticity and softness. Good for those who colour, heat-style or simply want to give tresses a treat. The mask also contains tamanu and argan oils for extra nourishment, plus keratin, a natural protein to strengthen and resist breakage. $63, ca.to112.com 2/3 SKIN Laboratoires Lierac Paris Body-Hydra + Micropeeling Scrub The French know how to keep skin looking smooth and clear, and the folks at Lierac have reformulated their facial micropeel for a body scrub. Considered a “dermocosmetic” brand because the company adapts medical advances to its cosmetic labs, this latest venture uses AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) from hibiscus as…

The years from 65 to 75 are critical, for that’s when conventional retirement income begins. Now is the time when folks have to manage income flows and match them to expenses and savings. Of course, there is variation; some folks retire at 60 and others postpone retirement in the governmental sense by starting drawdowns of CPP or QPP at age 70. The way RRSPs (which must be converted to RRIFs by the end of the year in which one turns 71) pay out assets as income and the incentives to get payments from government plans tend to create a scenario of pension income rising from 65 to 75. In a pension and benefits sense, it’s the time of the harvest. The dates are fluid, of course, because some people…

THERE WAS something about the cracked vinyl chair where I sat and the empty grey eyes of the staff neurologist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto that told me I was in for some bad news. Really bad news. The windowless room was silent save for the desolate hum of a fluorescent light. The doctor leaned back in his chair. Then he dropped the bomb. “Early onset Parkinson’s,” he said flatly. “There’s no cure in sight. No cure.” His words hit me like a slab of ice against my spine. “A miracle is always possible,” I whispered to myself, my head still spinning in disbelief. I left the hospital in a state of shock. It was a scorching hot August afternoon in 2002, and it was the darkest day of…

SARAH IS SEEKING shelter in a sliver of vertical shade offered by a lamppost. I want to laugh, but my tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth. It is 37 C, and we are more than 50 years old. The math is not encouraging. Like a mirage in the desert, we see a speck on the horizon of St. Charles Street near our three-bedroom Airbnb bungalow in the Garden District, a lovely neighbourhood of grand antebellum mansions with living rooms made for debutantes and porches big enough for sitting, fanning and rocking. We are waiting for the National Historic Landmark known as the St. Charles streetcar, a charming wooden contraption that jerks and chugs its way downtown to Canal Street in 20 minutes. As we strain to focus,…

ACROSS 1 Gunner’s weapon with huge ammo 7 “Stop, my virgin ears!” 10 Takes a turn at home 14 Lotion pitched by Jennifer Aniston 15 Landline, often: Abbr. 16 “Top ___ mornin’ to you” 17 Skewed views 18 Canadian-mocker’s words 19 “And I’ll be here in sunshine ___ shadow” (“Danny Boy”) 20 Harsh, hostile old woman 22 For yours truly to decide 24 Touchdown guesstimate 25 What chairmen chair: Abbr. 26 “Will you ___ dear and …” 27 Network with Gem streaming 28 Something to work on 30 Place for a peel or a wrap 32 Muhammad’s boxing daughter 34 Skinny Energizer size 37 Release, as a seatbelt 39 Ernie’s bath buddy “who’s cute and yellow” 41 Wall-to-wall alternatives 43 Born in Québec? 44 Shire who played Rocky’s wife…

Few music fans would dispute Stevie Nicks’ mantle as the Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll, though there is one prominent dissenter – Nicks herself. And though she once insisted to Zoomer that “This is not the queen,” even the modest 70-year-old can’t deny her history-making status as the first woman to receive two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, first as a member of Fleetwood Mac in 1998 and as a solo performer this past March. To celebrate the milestone, Nicks releases a career-spanning, 50-song collection Stand Back: 1981-2017 and then hits the road with her Fleetwood Mac pals, embarking on a world tour that touches down for multiple Canadian dates in April.…

THE PERCENTAGE of Canadians aged 45 to 64 taking medications is 55 per cent, while those 65 to 79 is 83 per cent. And people 75 and older take an average of six medications a day. Many of these are needed but can have side effects, however, and the more medications, the more potential for problems. Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in health care and one of the top reasons for ER visits. ▪ Medications at especially high risk for interactions with other medications, food and herbs: anticonvulsants, antibiotics and anticoagulants (blood thinners). Specifically, fluoroquinolone antibiotics (e.g., Cipro) are less effective if taken with aluminum (antacids), magnesium (Maalox), calcium or iron. ▪ Calcium can decrease effectiveness of tetracycline antibiotics. Calcium…

AT THE END of last year, Jann Arden posted three simple words on social media: “Mom is gone.” Arden’s “Good Mother,” Joan Richards, passed away after a decade in the grip of Alzheimer’s disease. “I’ll always miss her,” the award-winning singer-songwriter said during a mid-February phone call. “I think over the next year or so I will get her back because I won’t remember the illness. I’ll recover more of who she was.” Her father, Derrel, died three years earlier. The strength she drew from both parents is what kept her, as she sings, “Feet on ground/Heart in hand/Facing forward/Be yourself.” The recent Order of Canada recipient has made a career singing sad songs and telling funny stories. Now, at 57, she’s at it again, using heartbreak and loss…

BREAKFAST ▪ For beignets and coffee do go to Café du Monde, at its original location on Decatur Street on the edge of the French Quarter. Breakfast is, after all, the most important meal of the day. And in the Big Easy, that could be just about any time of day or night. But sometimes you just need a bit of jet fuel, as in strong French Roast coffee and a hit of these deep-fried, powdered-sugar treats that promise to chase the blues away. Skip the long wait for a table; head to the take-out line around back and get it to go. Munch away in nearby Jackson Square or take in the overlook of the great Mississippi river just a beignet’s throw away. LUNCH ▪ For muffaletta sandwiches…

In the early ’80s, Julie Enfield started her career with a move to Italy where she modelled for Versace and Armani. Back in Canada in the ’90s, she added photographer, writer and fashion publicist to her resumé. Her book, Kiss and Tell, was published in 2004. For “The Other Side of Silence” (pg. 62), she shares her story of living with Parkinson’s. Marni Jackson has written about pain, millennials, and motherhood. Flatiron Books published her first fiction, Don’t I Know You? in 2016, and she’s working on a new novel about what it’s like to reconnect with your first lover – in your 70s. In “A Crash Course in Concussion” (pg. 52), she takes us through her own slip, fall and ongoing recovery. Award-winning illustrator Hanna Barczyk is fresh…

ERHAPS NO ONE knows better that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step than Norwegian explorer and author Erling Kagge, 56, the first person to walk to the North Pole, South Pole and the summit of Mount Everest. It’s fitting, then, that Kagge extols the virtues of his favourite pastime in Walking: One Step At a Time, a meditation on the many personal and creative benefits of putting one foot in front of the other. Kagge, though, never walked on the moon, where only 12 men in history have strolled, so investigative reporter Basil Hero catches up with all the living moonwalkers and lunar astronauts on life, space travel and humanity in The Mission of a Lifetime: Lessons from the Men Who Went to the…

T’S BEEN MORE THAN a month since my friend Andrea died. It’s hard to believe she’s gone. Her name still comes up in my list of text messages, and her email address displays as soon as I type the letters a and n. I’ve done a few double takes in the club locker room where I saw her most often – it happens when I catch a glimpse from the back of some other woman with shoulder-length blond hair dressed in whites. There was no obituary at Andrea’s request, and the Celebration of Life won’t be held for another few months. That’s part of the reason it is so surreal for me and her other friends, though we realize the only people who are important to consider are her family.…

A DARK MERCEDES rolls into the parking lot of the low-rise office building, one of many such squat utilitarian edifices that dot the landscape in this rather bleak stretch of Mississauga, Ont. Unfazed by the frigid wind blowing off Lake Ontario, a tiny old lady nimbly emerges from the car, navigates the icy patches and walks briskly toward the office. As she enters, the receptionist greets her warmly and hands off a cup of fresh coffee, liberally whitened with cream. Ninety-eight–year–old “Hurricane” Hazel McCallion, or Madam Mayor as she still prefers to be addressed, is ready to face whatever new challenge this day may bring. Her first point of order this morning is dealing with a blow-dryer-wielding stylist zealously trying to glam her up for the Zoomer photo shoot about…

AFTER A 48-YEAR career in which Tantoo Cardinal appeared in everything from the Canadian TV series North of 60 to major films like Dances With Wolves and Legends of the Fall and earned accolades including the Order of Canada, the Métis actress, 68, finally landed her first big-screen leading role. In Falls Around Her, a Canadian production written, directed and co-produced by Anishinabe filmmaker Darlene Naponse, Cardinal plays a First Nations musician returning to her northern Ontario community to reconnect and leave fame behind. How does it feel to be the lead in a film and play a rock star? It’s fabulous. It was such a freeing stream for creative energy. It was just a sheer pleasure. In 2018, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited you to…

IFELL. NO BIG DEAL. I was walking through a snowy, wooded area of the Banff Centre in early November 2017 when I slipped on some hidden ice. I had piles of papers in both hands – a writer’s occupational hazard – so I couldn’t break my fall. Ironically, I was editing the manuscripts of some mountaineers and adventurers who had survived falls on much more perilous terrain than a level path with an inch of snow. I was mostly worried about fracturing something, that slippery slope to immobility, as I landed on my hip and my head. Then I got up, collected my scattered pages and gingerly carried on down the path. Whew, I thought, that was lucky. Twenty minutes later, the back of my head began to pulse and…

HIT THE HEIGHTS / MEXICO The multi-Oscar-winning film Roma has turned a spotlight onto Mexico City with its complex social and class interactions, as well as its stunning vistas. On a visit there, I find Spanish and English are both widely spoken in la Ciudad de Mexico, but many indigenous people – Maya, Mixtec and Zapotec among others – also speak two or three native languages. The city is a tapestry of tongues, of faces and of traditions. Of conquistadors and the Catholic faith. Of artists and revolutionaries. Within the city limits, remnants of ancient architecture can still be found, particularly at the Templo Mayor, but for a true glimpse of a pre-Hispanic civilization’s genius, take the 30-mile journey to Teotihuacan (“the place where the gods were created”) – consider…