Ok, it's the start of 2005, but it's still relevant!
THE SEXES with MEL RISON
Five new trends for finding love
Mel Risdon
January 7, 2005
If you brought in the new year without locking lips with a special someone, chances are you're among the many singles resolving to find Mr. or Mrs. Right in the next 12 months.
Here are five of the hottest dating trends to watch for in 2005:
SOLO TRAVEL:
Look for more companies coming on board with travel packages designed for singles. Diane Redfern started the Connecting Solo Travel Network back in 1990. "It's a central resource that looks for opportunities for singles to travel comfortably and economically on their own and it includes companies that are dating-oriented." Diane's membership-based website (www.cstn.org) advertises more than 350 such trips from a multitude of companies.
They include fastdatertravel.com, a New York company specializing in a kind of vacation speed-dating. Singles can take a Caribbean cruises, a ski getaway to Aspen or a golf trip to Scottsdale, Ariz., all while meeting other singles (and not fretting over the usual "based on double occupancy" brochures).
BLIND DATES WITH A TWIST:
You've done the chat rooms, dating services and pretty much everything else out there, but I'll bet you've never tried a Dinner-in-the-Dark party. Originating in New York and making its way across the States, it's the latest on the socializing scene.
Offered by cosmoparty.com, Dinner-in-the-Dark is an interesting new way of hooking people up. You gather at a venue where you are paired with a dinner companion in pitch blackness. You dine blindly, and your partner isn't revealed until dessert arrives.
The program — touted as a way to get to know a potential partner without looks being the first impression — is coming to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, so it's only a matter of time before Calgary singles dine in the dark.
IDIGU:
Huge in Japan and spreading like wildfire, text-message-dating brings a high-tech tool to the singles' world. It's a portable, inexpensive, safe and definitive way to target exactly what you're looking for and pursue on your own terms.
Canadian-based Mobilehookup launched in May of 2004 and is now introducing a North American first — Talk Now voice/SMS technology allowing two mobile users to hook up anonymously via the telephone. Your privacy is maintained while you get to know each other.
SPEED-DATING EVOLUTION:
What was once a novel idea is today almost mainstream: Get a group of guys and girls together and allow them quick sessions to chat and see if they can make a connection. Calgary has a number of speed dating services, including Six Minute Dates.
Christine Hart, who runs the service with business partner Dana Blonde, says the company is always looking for new ways to enhance and improve. "We feel like we're on the edge of greatness," said Hart. With a new speed-dating venue (Zodiak, 515 10 St. S.W.) and a new monthly speed-dating/wine tasting event, Hart and Blonde say the old "meat-market" stigmas are fading away.
"We've expanded into Vancouver with our first event coming up on Jan. 18," Hart says.
"We're also in the process of developing added online feature. We've been watching other companies in the States that have very successfully added these types of features."
REALITY TV:
Built on the success of such shows as The Bachelor and Bachelorette (plus lesser reality mind candy such as Elimidate), look for more of the same on the tube. Though nothing can be divulged at this point, I can say this — look for some new local dating programs in the coming months.
No doubt I'll have all the details in The Sexes once the "leaks" are confirmed.
Happy dating in 2005!
Monday, December 19, 2005
Interracial relationships are on the increase in U.S., but decline with age, Cornell study finds
An interesting article in that it indirectly explains why women over 35 with personal ads such as those on Match.com seem to specify a man of a type of color, be it black or more often -- American is majority Caucasian -- white. Below is an excerpt, and the rest can be read by clicking the title of this post.
By Susan S. Lang - Cornell News
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Interracial relationships and marriages are becoming more common in the United States, according to a new Cornell University study.
The number of interracial marriages involving whites, blacks and Hispanics each year in the United States has jumped tenfold since the 1960s, but the older individuals are, the less likely they are to partner with someone of a different race, finds the new study.
Pat Cassano, assistant professor of nutritional sciences, and Ron Booker, associate professor of neurobiology and behavior, are an interracial couple who have been together since she was 19 and he was 20 years old, about 31 years ago.
"We think that's because relationships are more likely to be interracial the more recently they were formed, so younger people are more likely to have interracial relationships. This trend reflects the increasing acceptance of interracial relationships in today's society," said Kara Joyner, assistant professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell and co-author of a study on interracial relationships in a recent issue of the American Sociological Review (Vol. 70:4).
By Susan S. Lang - Cornell News
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Interracial relationships and marriages are becoming more common in the United States, according to a new Cornell University study.
The number of interracial marriages involving whites, blacks and Hispanics each year in the United States has jumped tenfold since the 1960s, but the older individuals are, the less likely they are to partner with someone of a different race, finds the new study.
Pat Cassano, assistant professor of nutritional sciences, and Ron Booker, associate professor of neurobiology and behavior, are an interracial couple who have been together since she was 19 and he was 20 years old, about 31 years ago.
"We think that's because relationships are more likely to be interracial the more recently they were formed, so younger people are more likely to have interracial relationships. This trend reflects the increasing acceptance of interracial relationships in today's society," said Kara Joyner, assistant professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell and co-author of a study on interracial relationships in a recent issue of the American Sociological Review (Vol. 70:4).
Coldplay disappointed at three albums
The band want to be like The Beatles
(From NME.com)
Coldplay have revealed they are disappointed with only releasing three albums.
The band have said that compared with The Beatles' work rate, they are a lot slower and are starting to panic.
"We just love being creative," bassist Guy Berryman said. "When we're out on the road, it's amazing to play live but we're really missing what we do best, which is creating. We've been together for almost ten years now and we've only made three albums."
Speaking to BBC 6 Music, he added: "When you look at people like The Beatles who knocked out a couple a year, it sort of makes us start to panic a little bit. So we're just desperate to get back into the studio."
Coldplay tickets link is the title of this entry
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Racism and Mental Health
I found this book today, and while looking for something entirely different. But given the recent controversy over racism's consideration as an official mental illness and the Sydney Riots, I thought this was very appropriate. I hope others see this.
Racism and Mental Health
Charles V. Willie
Bernard M. Kramer
Bertram S. Brown
@1973, University of Pittsburgh Press
The forward of the book reads that "discrimination based on race, creed, color, sex, and national origin interferes with opportunities for individual expression by some and blinds others to their normal obligations. There is no health in a society afflicted by racism and discrimination."
In the chapter "Racism and Mental Health as a Field of Thought and Action" Bernard Kramer states that "mental health professional react in one manner to racism in general and in other to racism in mental health. They tend to finesse the question of race." He contends that mental health has ignored or underplayed racial aspects of the field, and gives examples to demonstrate this, pointing to a then-widely-used textbook in the field and stating that of 1,631 pages, not one concerns the topic of race or racism. He presents other evidence as well.
The book also presents a kind of history of racism and mental health and provides "definitions of mental disorder in a racist society." Before I elaborate on that, I must present what the authors give as "the essence of racism," which "lies in a relatively constant pattern of prejudice and discrimination between one party who is idealized and favored and another who is devalued and exploited in a common relationship" (p.61).
That is in a racist relationship there can't be an equality of roles, and has not been -- they basically state that relationships between whites and people of color have been imbalanced. They also go on to give other examples of similar relationships: male and female, and management and labor. "When racism is defined this broadly," Mr. Pinderhughes writes," it can be viewed as a characteristic of human nature that may be employed for constructive or destructive purposes.
The Negative Impact of Racism on African American Mental Health
The authors discuss how a declining yet historic fear among African Americans regarding seeking psychiatric treatment for the impact of racism may result in paranoid social behavior.
There is one chapter called "Racism and the Mental Heath of White Americans" which suggests that it's a form of paranoia, where a person believes that the lesser group either receives a special benefit, or is lazy, or will kill them, and so on. Thomas Pettigrew writes that "the highly prejudiced less often possess positive mental health than others," (p.292) and that there's a relationship between mental health and authoritarianism such that "it may not be possible to manifest an extreme degree of authoritarianism without being psychologically maladjusted."
The point of this is that racism has been linked to negative mental health for several decades -- it's not as new as the recent news would suggest. But considering the wealth of date and evidence, it is amazing that racism still is not officially considered a mental illness.
Racism and Mental Health
Charles V. Willie
Bernard M. Kramer
Bertram S. Brown
@1973, University of Pittsburgh Press
The forward of the book reads that "discrimination based on race, creed, color, sex, and national origin interferes with opportunities for individual expression by some and blinds others to their normal obligations. There is no health in a society afflicted by racism and discrimination."
In the chapter "Racism and Mental Health as a Field of Thought and Action" Bernard Kramer states that "mental health professional react in one manner to racism in general and in other to racism in mental health. They tend to finesse the question of race." He contends that mental health has ignored or underplayed racial aspects of the field, and gives examples to demonstrate this, pointing to a then-widely-used textbook in the field and stating that of 1,631 pages, not one concerns the topic of race or racism. He presents other evidence as well.
The book also presents a kind of history of racism and mental health and provides "definitions of mental disorder in a racist society." Before I elaborate on that, I must present what the authors give as "the essence of racism," which "lies in a relatively constant pattern of prejudice and discrimination between one party who is idealized and favored and another who is devalued and exploited in a common relationship" (p.61).
That is in a racist relationship there can't be an equality of roles, and has not been -- they basically state that relationships between whites and people of color have been imbalanced. They also go on to give other examples of similar relationships: male and female, and management and labor. "When racism is defined this broadly," Mr. Pinderhughes writes," it can be viewed as a characteristic of human nature that may be employed for constructive or destructive purposes.
The Negative Impact of Racism on African American Mental Health
The authors discuss how a declining yet historic fear among African Americans regarding seeking psychiatric treatment for the impact of racism may result in paranoid social behavior.
There is one chapter called "Racism and the Mental Heath of White Americans" which suggests that it's a form of paranoia, where a person believes that the lesser group either receives a special benefit, or is lazy, or will kill them, and so on. Thomas Pettigrew writes that "the highly prejudiced less often possess positive mental health than others," (p.292) and that there's a relationship between mental health and authoritarianism such that "it may not be possible to manifest an extreme degree of authoritarianism without being psychologically maladjusted."
The point of this is that racism has been linked to negative mental health for several decades -- it's not as new as the recent news would suggest. But considering the wealth of date and evidence, it is amazing that racism still is not officially considered a mental illness.
Friday, December 16, 2005
Randal wins "The Apprentice" but asked to share title? Now, if he were white...
I've got to admit that I'm tired of adjustments and exceptions being made whenever an African American male is clearly the best at something. Here's another example... (You can read the full story with a click on the link title post).
MSNBC
Updated: 2:26 p.m. ET Dec. 16, 2005
Thursday night, the fourth edition of "The Apprentice" came to an end, but the controversy has just begun.
Randal was a star from the beginning, and it was no surprise when Donald Trump offered him the job as his latest Apprentice. What was a little surprising was what happened next: As he had hinted he'd do all night long, Trump seemed ready to hire both Rebecca and Randal for different jobs in his organization. Yet when he asked Randal for his opinion, the winner quickly stated that he felt there should be only one Apprentice. And in a most un-Trumplike move, the billionaire went along with his newest hire's decision.
Everyone can agree that's what happened. But no one can agree on anything else. Many think race was a factor: Randal is Trump's first African-American "Apprentice," and some thought Trump was racially biased in asking him to not be the only "Apprentice" when none of the other winners, who were all white, held the title alone. Some pointed out that the first finale was also between a white and an African-American contender, yet when a white man, Bill, won, he wasn't asked his opinion about also hiring African-American Kwame.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
"King Kong" Upsets Oscar Best Picture Race - Brokeback Prediction Premature - Golden Globes Screws Up
Before King Kong's release, many were picking "Brokeback Mountain" as the possible winner of the Oscar "Best Picture" race as we approach the March 5th Academy Awards.
But now, there's a view that Brokeback may go the way of "Sideways" -- much talked about, but not the winner.
If Peter Jackson's everyone's selection for Best Director, then Academy history backs the selection of King Kong as best picture. If that happens, it will be the first film in 30 years not to receive a Golden Globe nod, yet win Best Picture.
The website The Envelope.com has a pole reporting that King Kong was the most neglected film in the Globes.
Bush takes responsibility for invasion intelligence
Does this mean the Downing Street Memo's are true? What wrong intelligence?
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