Teach every child about food

Did the earlier post on school lunches send shivers up your spine? One of the commenters at Neatorama on this topic linked to a video of Jamie Oliver giving his TED talk. Oliver has a simple solution to the issue of nutrition. Teach every child about food. Do you agree?

Douglas Adams and Cold Blood

When Douglas Adams is mentioned, most people think of him as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Adams, however, was also a script editor and writer for Doctor Who!

Andrew Orton payed homage to Adams with this parody integrating Doctor Who with Rod Lord’s animations from the Hitchhiker's TV series and a pretty passable Peter Jones.



[h/t: The Doctor Who blog]

If you've missed "Cold Blood," the second part to "The Hungry Earth" you can watch it a Spacecast.com


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What's your story?

What makes you look so blue?
The way that you've been acting
I don't know what to do.

For complete lyrics, visit International Lyrics Playground.

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Way to go Flashpoint!

Almost two years ago, I mentioned a little home grown show called "Flashpoint."

They are doing something right! According to the CTV website:

Last Friday’s episode was the most-watched primetime program in North America, with 1.08 million viewers in Canada and 6.95 million in the United States.

Last Friday's episode was a rerun.

Way to go Flashpoint!

MLF&H: How does your garden grow?

From June 21st – July 5, 2010 any Canadian Mabel’s Labels – Labels for the stuff kids lose!® order that includes the word SEEDS in the questions/comments box on the checkout page will receive a package of wildflower seeds.

For complete details, visit the Mabelhood blog.


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Disclosure: I'm a Mabel's Labels Buzzmama and I receive free products for my involvement in the program. I'm also a Mabel's Labels web affiliate and I earn a commission if you use the following link to purchase your Mabel’s Labels – Labels for the stuff kids lose!®

Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa Charitable Foundation

Andrea Tomkins, blogger at a peek inside the fishbowl, has recently joined the Board of Directors of the new Youth Services Bureau (YSB) of Ottawa Charitable Foundation.

The YSB Charitable Foundation has set a goal to raise $750,000 in 2010-2011.

This campaign will help:

• Rebuild the Downtown Services and Drop-in Centre, where YSB’s street front programs are offered;
• Support mental health programs for youth;
• Fund employment programs that help young people get their first jobs;
• Expand housing and shelter services to accommodate street-involved youth; and
• Sustain community reintegration programs for youth in conflict with the law.

Andrea is one of 50 community leaders asking 50 individuals to donate $50 to the YSB Charitable Foundation.

If you're able to make a donation to help her reach her target of $2500, please do so, in any amount, using this form so she may track the progress to reaching her target.

For more information about this initiative, please read her post "I've got a big favour to ask."

I am The Doctor, eh?

Did you know that Canadian Sydney Cecil Newman, a Canadian film and television producer, played a pioneering role in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s?

During his time in Britain in the 1950s and 60s, among other credits, he was involved in initiating both The Avengers and Doctor Who!

He returned to Canada in 1970 and continued to be heavily involved in film and broadcasting. Newman was awarded the Order of Canada in 1981.

[h/t: The Doctor Who Blog]



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How bad could school lunches be?

After watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, did you wonder how typical that school was, with respect to what it served it's children for lunch?

This year, a public school teacher started the blog "Fed up with lunch: The school lunch project" where she photographed and ate everything the kids were served since the beginning of the year.

From the site:

"It's very challenging to teach students when they are eating school lunches that don't give them the nutrition they need and deserve. Oftentimes what is served barely passes muster as something edible."

Have a look at their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It's an eye-opener!



[h/t: ask moxie]

Lost a camera? Found a camera?

If you've recently lost or found a camera, have a look at: IFoundYourCamera.blogspot.com

From the site:

Recognize Anyone?

New sets of orphan pictures are posted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

If you see someone you know, please contact us to help return their lost camera and orphan pictures home.

Find A Lost Camera?

Email at least four photos from your found camera.

Include any other details, time, location, school, etc.

Share your lost camera stories and thoughts about the blog.

Check back every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday for new updates.

How annoying?

This seems particularly noticeable in the early years at school.

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

But who?

I had no choice but to love a show that opened with the lines:

"But who is this creature with terrible claws
And terrible teeth in his terrible jaws?"

You can watch "The Hungry Earth" over at Spacecast.com now.

Unfortunately, we'll need to wait until next week to find out if

The mouse found a nut and the nut was good.

If you haven't read The Gruffalo yet, get thee to a children's library. You'll be glad you did.


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Doctor Who most watched show

According to the Space website, last Saturday's airing of Doctor Who won the timeslot for viewers across the board! Not bad for a geek in a bowtie.

Want to see what all the fuss was about? Check it out online at Spacecast.com before Sunday night.



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Henning to be inducted into Canada's Wall of Fame

From the CBC website:

Magician, illusionist and escape artist Henning will be a posthumous honouree. The Winnipeg-born, Ontario-raised performer, who died in 2000 just months after being diagnosed with liver cancer, was a pop-culture fixture in the 1970s for his theatrical magic shows in Canada and the U.S.

Olympian Clara Hughes, filmmaker Sarah Polley, author Farley Mowat, actor Eric McCormack, singer Nelly Furtado, and musician David Clayton-Thomas will also be inducted to Canada's Walk of Fame this fall.

MLF&H: End of year gift for teachers [rerun]

Edited to add:
Andrea's readers at a peek inside the fishbowl also have really good thoughts on this topic.

The end of the school year is approaching and it's time to start thinking about gift giving for your child's teacher or caregiver.

Moxie has some great posts with terrific comments about gift giving to teachers. Some of my favourite points include:

• "If you really want to buy a gift, please please please no cheese balls and teacher mugs or tchochkes or ornaments. The most appreciated gifts I ever got were books, office supplies, or gift cards to Borders and Staples."
  
  
• "The greatest gift your child can give is a handwritten letter -- something like, 'Ms. Maura, this is my favorite class. I really loved the project we did on X. I'm always going to remember you because of X. Thank you for teaching me X.'
  
  
• "So, the best gift is cash on the barrel, closely followed by gift cards to retailers so large and ubiquitous that they are cash equivalents. So cash it is for daycare providers. I don't know what we'll do for teachers once we hit elementary school. Gift certificates to places school supplies are found, plus other stuff, sound great."
  
  
• "Both schools I worked at had policies about accepting checks/cash."

If you feel like you want to send a tangible gift along with your child's handwritten note and / or gift certificate, add a Classroom Pack from Mabel’s Labels – Labels for the stuff kids lose!® For years, teachers have been telling Mabel's Labels that they need labels for the classroom.

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Disclosure: I'm a Mabel's Labels Buzzmama and I receive free products for my involvement in the program. I'm also a Mabel's Labels web affiliate and I earn a commission if you use the following link to purchase your Mabel’s Labels – Labels for the stuff kids lose!®

Sunscreen and the EWG part deux

Catherine has a very interesting article regarding the safety of suncreen in the comments of the aforementioned Ask Moxie post.

Sunscreen and the EWG

Ask Moxie is hosting a really good discussion on the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) sunscreen guide for 2010.

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Main take-away:

• You may want to read the full report if you're using products containing vitamin A (retinol, retinol or retinyl palmitate) or oxybenzone (benzophenone-3)

Some reader's perspectives:

• From Cloud:
  In the meantime, we'll keep using our sunscreens. I know with quite a bit of certainty that unprotected exposure to the sun can cause cancer- I can even explain the mechanism. These chemicals? My take is that there are some studies that indicate they may cause cancer. But there has not been a single definitive peer-reviewed study, because man, that would have been a high profile paper that I would not have missed.
  
  
• From paola:
  When it comes to sunscreens, avoid the following:

  benzophenone 3: absorbed through the skin. Can cause allergic reactions, foto- sensitivity, hormonal problems.

  PABA: will be banned in EU as from October for same reasons as benzophenone 3.

  methylbenzylidencamphor: studies on animals suggest it effects thyroid function. Penetrates the skin barrier and can cause allrgies.

  Source: Italian Consumer magazine Altroconsumo, June 2010.

• From Jenna:
  Mexoryl or Tinosorb are the only two sunscreen ingredients that are actually effective at blocking UVA. Avobenzone (aka Parsol), the UVA blocker used in most US sunscreens, actually degrades in sunlight. Though the FDA finally approved Mexoryl a few years ago, it's still nigh impossible to find a sunscreen with Mexoryl here in the US. According to the EWG report, Tinosorb still isn't approved yet.

  I buy all my sunscreen in Canada. My favorites are La Roche-Posay Anthelios or Hydraphase UV in SPF 30. (Sephora carries Hydraphase, but only SPF 15.) L'Oreal Ombrelle and Vichy are also good. FYI these are all brands you can find at an ordinary drugstore in Canada. My Vichy SPF 60 body sunblock has Mexoryl, octorcrylene, titantium dioxide, and avobenzone, all of which are on the low or moderate risk lists on the EWG site

If this concerns you, be sure to read the ingredient list on every formulation of your favourite brand. Ingredients change formulation to formulation, including but not limited to the addition of chemicals in children's formulations that are not present in the adult brand.

A bit about chemical and mineral sunscreens at Venusian Glow.

For more about sunscreen, read the Skin Cancer Foundation's answer to the question What are the basic sunscreen ingredients, and what protection does each offer?