Zoomer Magazine April/May 2023

IT WAS A SPECIAL WAY to cap off this year’s International Women’s Day. On March 8, I was invited by Tudor Alexis, the Consul General of France in Toronto, to see jazz singer Molly Johnson named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres – the country’s prestigious cultural honour. Those of you who read our cover profile of Johnson (Dec. 2021/Jan. 2022) know that her singular career has been defined by artistic achievement, as well as the activism and philanthropy remarked on by the French Ambassador to Canada, Michel Miraillet, before he pinned the order’s green, white and silver medal on Johnson’s Hoax Couture suit jacket. It gave it a jaunty pop. I had met its designers, Jim Searle and Chris Tyrell – who have dressed Johnson for…

UP One more tug of the ear to mark a milestone When Carol Burnett (above) turns 90 on April 26, she’ll be feted with a two-hour TV special that includes legends such as Julie Andrews and Cher. Drexel University researchers in Pennsylvania say an artificial intelligence program much like ChatGPT – which replicates human conversation – may help with early detection of dementia The breakthrough came after the scientists spent hours giggling as ChatGPT wrote their study in the style of Dr. Seuss. A wrinkle in time Research funded by the U.S. National Institute on Aging suggests cutting calories by just 12 per cent (240 from a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet) can delay the effects of aging and boost longevity. From Grandmaster Flash to Queen Latifah, it’s been a rapper’s delight Hip-hop,…

The sun may finally be setting on the Wild West era of cryptocurrency trading. That’s if new measures announced in February by the securities watchdogs successfully curtail the notorious under-30 “crypto bros” who thrive in the unregulated environment. Last September, investigators accused Aiden Pleterski, 24, of Whitby, Ont., of using investors’ money to fund his lavish lifestyle, including his fleet of sports cars. This follows the bizarre tale of Belleville, Ont., native Gerald Cotten, who managed to build his Quadriga into Canada’s largest crypto exchange, before dying in unusual circumstances at the age of 30 in 2018 and taking passcodes to access $250 million of virtual money to his grave. But these two were mere juvenile delinquents compared to Sam Bankman-Fried of Stanford, Calif., the 31-year-old whiz kid who…

FOREVER YOUNG SILICON VALLEY ENTREPRENEUR BRYAN JOHNSON LOOKS LIKE A MILLION BUCKS — for his age. Better make that two million, which is the amount the 45-year-old billionaire spends each year on his pursuit of perpetual youth, a dream he’s chasing along with other big-tech anti-aging companies like Calico Labs (Google) and Altos Labs (reportedly backed by Jeff Bezos). Johnson is trying to figure out the formula for staying young – experimenting with vitamins, supplements, diagnostic equipment and workout machines and employing a team of 30 health-care professionals who constantly monitor his vital signs. “Can somebody who’s willing to say yes to an algorithm, like myself, stay the same age biologically?” asks Johnson. The answer is playing out live on bryanjohnson.co. PAINFUL PRANK On April Fool’s Day, the federal carbon…

Bittersweet is not a word typically used to describe rock albums. Yet Lustre Parfait – a collaboration between late singer-lyricist Gord Downie (above) and Canuck super-producer and musician Bob Rock (below) is as poignant as it is grandiose. As Rock explains in an interview from L.A., after the pair had cut The Tragically Hip’s We Are the Same in 2009, Downie asked Rock if he had any stray music he could write lyrics for. Rock had plenty, dating back decades, since he’s also a distinguished songwriter. They began collaborating in 2010, grabbing recording time in various locales when packed schedules permitted. There seemed to be no rush; Rock says the sessions were joyful and liberating. Then Downie died in 2017 at age 53. Lustre Parfait (May 5), which Rock…

WHEN L.A. LAKERS SUPERSTAR LeBron James (above) soared past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (below) in February, to become the NBA’s all-time scoring leader, sports pundits began arguing over whether he was the greatest of all time, basketball edition. These G.O.A.T. debates rage in every sport, especially on social media where hockey devotees will give you 99 reasons why Wayne Gretzky is their god while baseball can’t seem to decide between Babe Ruth, Willie Mays or Barry Bonds. This might be the golden age of G.O.A.T.s with all-timers LeBron in basketball, Tom Brady in football, Tiger Woods in golf and Serena Williams in tennis reaching most-revered status. This raises the inevitable question: Which athlete is the undisputed, generation-spanning G.O.A.T. of all G.O.A.T.s? The obvious answer is boxer Muhammad Ali, who not only…