Innholdsfortegnelse for February/March 2023 i Zoomer Magazine

I’VE COME TO THE conclusion that Joni Mitchell lyrics can be repurposed and applied to many situations, although some people may consider it sacrilege. Take “Both Sides Now” and substitute the word “travel” for “clouds,” and think of the chorus. Even if you do not agree (and you probably don’t), perhaps I can be forgiven as she started writing the song when she looked down out of an airplane window at clouds. I always ask for a window seat, which is where I found myself on a jaunt to the U.K. in December. Before the pandemic, I was a reluctant traveller, quite happy with the joys of my city and the comfort of my home, thank you very much, and unwilling to be stress tested more than I already…

The archive of Canadian troubadour Leonard Cohen (who died in 2016 at the age of 82) contains drafts of his legendary lyrics, reams of fan mail and early work gathered in the recently published posthumous collection, A Ballet of Lepers. Canny selections from the nearly 100 boxes are also on view in Leonard Cohen: Everybody Knows, the first-ever exhibition of material from the Leonard Cohen Family Trust, on at the Art Gallery of Ontario until April 10. Cohen’s early instinct to document his life and carefully preserve his output proved prescient, and it’s a treat to see material dating back to the 1940s. Excerpts from home movies (mostly filmed by his father, Nathan), for example, convey Cohen’s carefree early childhood in the affluent Montreal neighbourhood of Westmount, and letters home…

IT HAS BEEN a quarter of a century since James Cameron’s Titanic charged past 1939’s Gone with the Wind to become the top-grossing film of all time. The 11-time Oscar-winning film was eventually surpassed by Avatar – which might soon be eclipsed by its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water – both from the self-professed “king of the world” – a line Cameron repurposed from Titanic when he accepted the golden statuette for best director. Titanic and its star-crossed lovers – first-class passenger Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) and poor artist Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) – were resurrected in 2012, when the 3D re-release pushed the film’s earnings past US$2 billion. Now, just in time for Valentine’s Day and the 25th anniversary, another remastered re-release pulls into port. Catch…

Bernadette Rose, 72, a former nurse, and Peter Taylor, 76, a retiree from St. Thomas, Ont., reluctantly took to the internet to find new love. Bernadette Rose: I lived and worked in Toronto until my marriage ended in 2012 after 27 years and two kids. I moved to Cambridge, Ont., to look after my sister, who died, and then I moved to London to be with another sister. Ever since my marriage ended, I felt like sort of a burden to everyone. Like, “Who will take Auntie Bee now?” Peter Taylor: I was married for 51 years when my wife was hit and killed by a car, actually right around when Bernadette’s sister died. I have two kids, including one who lives nearby in St. Thomas, but it was…

CANADIANS ROLLED INTO 2023 with intense misgivings about our economy, uncertainty about its outlook and concerns about the health of their pocketbooks. A gradual resolution of the pandemic’s economic hangover will likely be accompanied by some of the challenges that have plagued the Canadian economy for decades. THE “BEFORE TIMES” WEREN’T GREAT The 2008–2010 global financial crisis was the last big economic ruction to hit the world’s major countries simultaneously. Thanks to prudent regulatory frameworks, which moved the World Economic Forum to name Canada’s banking system the “soundest” in the world for the eight years between 2007 and 2015, none of our financial institutions failed. Canada experienced the mildest downturn and fastest recovery among G7 countries. Then our oil-producing provinces were hit hard by a 70 per cent decline in prices…

WITH HIGHER FOOD AND ENERGY PRICES expected to stay with us until well into 2023, the affordability crisis continues to dent our pocketbooks. While most older Canadians are trimming their budgets to cope with higher prices, low-income seniors don’t have that luxury, notes Bill VanGorder, chief operating officer at CARP (a ZoomerMedia affiliate). Instead, “they’re cutting back on necessities or turning to family members or even food banks for relief.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised that his government is monitoring inflation closely and will respond with “appropriate and targeted supports for the people who need it most.” CARP is lobbying the government to consider the following measures to help older Canadians facing financial insecurity. BOOST OAS A quick way for the federal government to get relief into the hands of…

NICOLE KIDMAN sits alone in a cinema, the light from the projector creating a halo effect, as the Oscar-winning actor implores audiences to return to theatres after the pandemic ravaged attendance. The 2021 ad for AMC Theatres, which aired in U.S. and European theatres, inspired memes and parodies, and even prompted some audience members to cheer, recite lines and salute the screen. The sentiment – a longing to bask in the glow of the movies – is reflected in some of the biggest contenders for the 2023 Academy Awards. The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical love letter to film, is perhaps the best among them. It even has a frame that echoes that holy image of Kidman in the theatre: a primal scene where the projector’s beam backlights a young child…

DOWN Experts warn that billionaires may use their wealth to significantly increase their longevity and create a wider gap between the rich and poor Fast forward to 2121, where a 150-year-old Elon Musk (left) is trying to sell Martians on the benefits of buying a Tesla. After Rolling Stone snubs Celine Dion, 54, on their list of the 200 greatest singers of all time, fans protest at their offices The mag noted that, while their hearts will go on, they should just walk away because that’s the way it is. UP From The Fly to fly outfit Canadian director David Cronenberg, 79, modelled in Saint Laurent’s spring-summer campaign. This movie boasts more G.O.A.T.s than a petting zoo The 1980s music icons Dolly Parton, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan, Debbie Harry…

Bill Nighy is living his best life. Twenty years after playing Love Actually’s washed-up rock legend Billy Mack (still his best-known role), for the first time in his career the beloved British stage and screen actor is enjoying Oscar buzz. That’s thanks to the critically acclaimed Living, an uplifting new drama about an elderly bureaucrat who turns his dull life around after a terminal diagnosis. Much like the recent step into the spotlight by Lesley Manville, 66, with Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, or 85-year-old Anthony Hopkins’ Academy Award-winning turn in The Father last year, Living is a career-best performance. Decades after delivering memorable depth and dimension – largely in supporting roles (163 acting credits to date!) – the dapper Nighy, 73, is getting richly deserved recognition in the…

English designer and eco-crusader Dame Vivienne Westwood (left) died in December, at 81. The iconoclast changed and shaped fashion for more than 50 years, first by ushering punk into the mainstream with then husband Malcolm McLaren, the Sex Pistols’ manager. Westwood then mined the past (those cinched corsets!) and the monarchy for her eccentric designs while always looking forward. A pioneer, she was relentless working at the centre of the fight against global warming and warning against the dangers of over-consumption. RIP to this indomitable rebel. —Nathalie Atkinson…

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted traditional fundraisers, some of them lavish events where donors paid hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars for an invite. At Imagine Canada, which supports non-profits, charities and social enterprises, president and CEO Bruce MacDonald says their data show about three-quarters of Canada’s charities “saw a decline in at least one form of donation.” At the same time, an Angus Reid poll from August 2022 showed 54 per cent of 1,500 Canadians surveyed had reduced charitable donations in response to inflation and the increased costs of living. While in-person dinners and galas have resumed, a looming recession means “organizations are facing increased demand for services,” MacDonald says. The bright side is that tough economic times have prompted Canadians to get creative. “Pet-food banks started to emerge through…

It was a shock, but not a surprise, or maybe a surprise, but not a shock. I have cancer – again. It’s not a recurrence, and that is apparently the good news. But it is my third primary cancer, and it’s in a tough spot. My doctors think it is once again largely driven by my BRCA-2 genetic mutation, and that is also apparently good news. It means there is a good chance I will respond to the biggest innovation in treatment in recent years – immunotherapy. To riff off the title of my 2016 documentary, maybe cancer will save my life again. I have often been called a walking miracle. I’ve had 14 years cancer-free after stage 3 pancreatic cancer. That is still, unfortunately, unheard of. According to Johns…

WHETHER YOU ARE RETIRED OR WORKING UP TO IT, all the chatter about a recession might leave you feeling fretful over your finances. Stubborn inflation, rising interest rates, falling stock markets and global unrest don’t help. If you have an investment portfolio and own a home, what steps can you take to prepare for a possible economic downturn? For advice on weathering the storm, we turned to certified financial planners Julia Chung, a partner, senior financial planner and the CEO at Spring Plans in Surrey, B.C.; Jason Pereira, a partner and senior financial planner with Woodgate Financial Inc. in Toronto; and Reagan Pflug, the owner of Networth Management in Calgary. MAKE A PLAN In an uncertain world, Chung suggests focusing on the things you can control by understanding what you…

THE “CYBERSECURITY OFFICER” ON THE PHONE HAD SOME BAD NEWS: A pornography ring on the other side of the world had secretly withdrawn $8,000 from my bank account. He could help me, but only if I acted fast. Within the next three hours I had to buy Google gift cards (which he called “security cards”) totalling $8,000, and he would show me how to use the cards to get my money back. “If a cashier questions the purchase, tell them it’s for your grandchildren,” he said. Intent on banishing this “porn ring” from my account and my life, I drove to Loblaws and grabbed as many of the cards as I could from the rack, about $2,000 worth, taking instructions from the “officer” via cell phone the whole time. “Don’t…

THERE IS A REASON Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid has sold over a million copies, squatted on bestseller lists for more than two years since its 2019 publication and continues to trend on BookTok and #bookstagram. It comes down to those three insatiable things: sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll. Loosely inspired by the travails of Fleetwood Mac – and so steeped in its era that you can whiff the weed and the Opium perfume – the novel, set between 1970 and ’80, is now getting the gauzy series treatment. Coming to Amazon Prime in March via Reese Witherspoon’s production company, Hello Sunshine, the show, like the book, will follow the tale of an L.A. rock band during the 1970s. Bang that tambourine and spread those chiffon…

This might be the year that parents across Canada finally get their millennial children out of their basements and into their own dwellings. That’s if the new law that prohibits non-residents from purchasing homes in Canada (which came into effect early January) improves housing affordability for first-time buyers. The two-year ban on foreign ownership is intended to make homes cheaper by removing speculators from the mix. “Homes are to live in,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, when his government introduced the policy in its April budget, “not a way to boost a balance sheet.” While some real estate experts are skeptical that the law will lower prices across the country, others feel that, along with high interest rates, it could help cool prices in bigger urban condo markets, such…

In Margaret Atwood’s first story collection in nearly a decade – she’s been pretty busy with three novels, two books of essays and one of poetry – the iconic Canadian wordsmith is circling back to her short-story roots. Old Babes in the Wood (March 7), the titular tale of two elderly sisters making do at their late father’s dilapidated cottage, headlines an eclectic compilation featuring everything from her imagined interview with George Orwell to the musings of a snail’s soul reincarnated into a mid-level, customer service bank rep. Given the prolific author works in whatever field or form she damn well chooses, what does she like about the deceptively challenging short story? “It’s shorter.” (Subtext: Next question, and make it a better one.) I pivot and gush over “My Evil…

An epic saga deserves a mythic theatre adaptation, and the page-to-stage story of Ann-Marie MacDonald’s bestselling 1996 debut novel Fall on Your Knees is nothing short of heroic. About 10 years ago on a walk in the park, MacDonald’s wife, theatre director Alisa Palmer, asked what she thought about making her multgenerational tale about the Piper clan into a play. “I initially imagined it was an opera, something much more abstract,” Palmer says in an interview at a café near their Toronto home. “She was game for me to try. She didn’t want to take on writing it, because it was too close, and also, she had been writing novels.” Palmer, who juggled work on the play with other productions, as well as her duties as an artistic director at…

THE RAPID INTEREST RATE HIKES OVER the past year have been punishing for borrowers, but arguably a blessing for debt-free retirees and near-retirees. Indeed, after a decade or more of pitifully low rates, savers can finally get a decent return on their deposits. The Bank of Canada might hit the brakes on its series of interest rate hikes, with inflation cooling off and economies slowing down. But it’s clear that Canadians have entered a new interest rate environment – one that offers plenty of new opportunities. Here’s how retirees and soon-to-be retirees can benefit from rising interest rates. HIGH INTEREST SAVINGS ACCOUNTS Just a year ago you’d be hard pressed to find a high interest savings account that paid more than one per cent interest. Today, according to the comparison website…

IF YOU’RE LIKE A LOT OF OLDER CANADIANS, you have built up quite a bit of equity in your home as you diligently paid down your mortgage. Now, with interest rates creeping up and the cost of living going through the roof, it’s a good time to explore a little-known, legal way to free up money that requires no additional cash flow. With the Smith Manoeuvre, you can turn a huge liability – your mortgage payments – into tax deductions, and use the refunds to pay down your mortgage or invest the money in your retirement portfolio. “A lower tax bill means more cash to apply to expensive mortgage debt; more cash to apply to expensive debt means more funds to invest; more funds to invest means more comfort…

NO WOMAN ON EARTH NEEDED Gwyneth Paltrow to tell her “menopause could use a bit of rebranding,” but since the 50-year-old lifestyle guru made that prescient comment in 2018, it’s become clear the marketplace needed to hear it. Five years later, menopause is an industry unto itself, with A-list celebrities opening up, speaking out and cashing in with brand endorsements and products like Paltrow’s own cheekily named Madame Ovary, an oral supplement “for common menopausal complaints.” Indeed, the financial news website BNN Bloomberg reports the global market for menopausal products “is growing rapidly, at a rate of more than five per cent,” having already hit US$15 billion in 2021. For a subject that’s usually talked about sotto voce, if at all, this is a stunning social evolution – or is…