James Fishman | Sunstone Online

Global James Bond Day Coming Soon

If you haven’t already reserved the date, get ready to do so now. Bond, James Bond is celebrating his 50^th birthday – or at least the franchise is. On October 5^th, Global James Bond Day will celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the first UK release of a Bond movie.

The movie was “Dr. No.” MGM Studios and EON Productions are spearheading the day-long series of Bond events. Exciting events for the day will include a “50 Years of James Bond” film retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which will run until October 31. It will also include

The gallery exhibition “Goldfinger: the Design of an Iconic Film Title” will also be featured at MOMA.

Christie’s will be hosting a live charity auction event in London for Bond’s anniversary that day and there will be a Music of Bond night in L.A. hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In Toronto, you can catch the Designing 007: 50 Years of James Bond Style.

In addition, fans can catch a glimpse at the new documentary from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Passion Pictures and Red Box Films which is called Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007. This film, directed by Stevan Riley, focuses on the James Bond producers Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman and author Ian Fleming. It’s about how they’ve made the longest running film franchise in movie history.

Here are some fun, quick facts about the Bond franchise to get everyone ready for the big day.

1. Ian Fleming chose the name James Bond, and he did so because, “I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could think of. James Bond seemed perfect.” He found the name when looking at the name of the author of the book Birds Of The West Indies that was on his bookshelf.

2. There have never been agents 001 or 005.

3. Seven actors have played the role of James Bond including: Sean Connery, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.

4. By the end of 2012, there will be 26 James Bond movies as part of the collection.

Teen Science Cafe Launched at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences

A new wing for older children and teens was recently opened at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. The Nature Research Center, which focuses on research and conservation, is also launching a Teen Science Café program for the first time.

Made possible by a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation, this free event will be held on a monthly basis throughout the school year. Topics, speakers and programs will be planned with help from the Teen Advisory Board. Similar cafes will be launched in Chapel Hill with Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and at the Museum of Forestry in Whiteville.

The first session, which will be held this coming Friday, will focus on tree-top exploration and conservation. The presentation will be from ‘Canopy’ Meg Lowman, director of the Nature Research Center, where she will discuss Earth’s rainforest, scientific methods used in their research, as well as things teenagers can do to help protect them. The event will also include a visit to one of the new Investigate Labs, where participants will learn about tree-harming insects.

Posture: The #1 Motivation Factor

A recent study has discovered that focus and motivation at the workplace may be affected by one simple thing; posture.

For those who sit long hours in front of a computer, staying concentrated and alert can be a truly difficult task. Tiredness and lethargy are common amongst such office workers. Research has shown that the quickest, most simple fix is to correctly position the monitor on the desk.

When a monitor is placed too low, it draws the eyes, and therefore neck and back, forward and down. This affects breathing and oxygen intake, circulation, and muscle and spinal health, resulting in back and shoulder pain, sore necks, lethargy and even depression. For ideal motivation and health, the monitor should be positioned so that the center is slightly above eye level.

These statements are not merely speculation. Back in the 80s, Texas A&M University’s John Riskind tested the correlation between posture and persistence. To do so, he encouraged two groups of participants to sit accordingly- half hunched, and half upright with heads held high andback over the shoulders. After only three minutes of sitting, Riskind provided the participants with geometric puzzles. Though most were unsolvable, those with better posture focused on the problems for twice as long as those who sat with their heads down.

Similar studies have been conducted during recent years, yielding similar results.

Would YOU Try Placenta Shampoo?

Numerous hair treatments and magic shampoos line the shelves of drug stores and online venues such as Amazon.com, and women have long disputed the best brand and ingredients for the perfect mane.

A new trend, used for years by Hollywood stars, has finally hit the mainstream market- placenta-based shampoos and body washes. Believed to have immeasurable nutrients and anti-aging properties that rejuvenate the body’s cells, afterbirth may be the industry’s new miracle ingredient.

The most popular products that use this ingredient are the La Bella shampoo and conditioner which claim to contain a ‘special placenta enzyme,’ and Hask Placenta No Rinse Hair Repair Treatment. La Bella believes it will help restore “shine and bounce” to the hair, while the latter also promises to “nourish your dull, frizzy hair,” and “restore life and luster.”

Would you use products based on the placenta- a structure which protects the fetus en-utero? These generic products use placental ingredients from cow, sheep and plants- not from humans. Though many would find the concept difficult to accept, some have grown up using it their whole life!

The Huffington Post’s Erica Cheung revealed that she has been using the treatment since childhood.

“My mother would take me to the kitchen, sit me on a bar stool and prepare a beauty concoction for my hair in a silverware spoon,” she explained. “She would heat it over a flame (usually on the stove) and when the liquid was hot, but not boiling, she would distribute it over my chocolate brown hair, concentrating on the scalp. The concoction consisted of almond oil, tomato juice and placenta. Yes, placenta- like afterbirth.

“At the time I didn’t realize that what my mom was putting in my hair came from a living thing’s uterus. In all honesty, the placenta smelled really good and looked like vegetable oil. The bi-weekly event became a beauty ritual and I’ve used placenta my whole life because of it.

“The memory of my mother lathering afterbirth all over my head is akin to other memories of her teaching me how to braid my hair or going to buy my first bra. It was all very normal to me!”

Today, Cheung swears by Hask Placenta No-Rinse Instant Hair Repair Treatment, which she says makes her hair feel “soft and smell really good for days.”

Toddler Tantrum Check-List

Here’s a way to turn already crazy parents into lunatics when it comes to their children. Offer them a simple checklist that they can look over while their two year old is having a tantrum, and then let them see if it indicates early signs of mental health problems.

A team at Northwestern University as, apparently, decided that this checklist is a good idea, as they’ve created a new tool that they claim will have the reverse effect. They hope the tool will calm the nerves of parents who are worried that their child’s tantrum is an indication of deeper underlying issues.

Professor Lauren Wakschlag, of Northwestern University, said,

“It gives a measurable indicator to tell us when tantrums are frequent enough that a child may be struggling. Perhaps for the first time, we have a tangible way to help parents, doctors and teachers know when the frequency and type of tantrums may be an indication of a deeper problem.”

For the study, researchers asked the parents of close to 1500 three to five year olds to describe their child’s behavior, including tantrums. From this information, the researchers were able to classify what they constitute as normal temper tantrums and to differentiate between these and ones that are problematic.

They have, at this time, created a questionnaire of 118 questions that parents can ask themselves about their children; and they are hoping to narrow down this focus to 25 key questions. Their hope is to create a simple form that parents can fill out in a pediatric waiting room, for instance, that will offer doctors immediate information about the child they will see.

While parents left to their own devices may misinterpret findings of this sort, it does appear that the researchers’ work can help doctors and mental health professional. At the moment, the DSM does not have age-specific markers to determine the clinical significance of actions. The vague criteria in the DSM doesn’t take into account the needs of 3-5 year old children or their propensity for having temper tantrums.

As Prof. Wakschlag explained,

“Since most preschool children have tantrums, this vague criteria makes it exceptionally difficult for providers to determine when behaviour is of clinical significance in early childhood. There’s been a real danger of preschool children with normal misbehaviour being mis-labelled and over-treated with medication…This is why it is so crucial to have tools that precisely identify when worry is warranted in this age group.”

Their findings were published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

The Advantages of Being a Working Mother

Though many women believe that a long maternity leave and lots of rest are essential to the process of bringing a baby home, recent studies have shown that returning to work shortly after the change may in fact be better for a woman’s health. The research implies that working women have better physical and psychological health than stay-at-home moms.

According to specialists from the University of Akron and Penn State University, women involved in both careers and family lives have been found to have higher energy levels and mobility, as well as confidence and contentment. They are also less likely to go through depression.

The study states that the results are especially accurate among first-time parents. The financial independence and social interaction at the workplace reduce stress, sadness and worry, experts explain.

Adrianne Frech, lead researcher and professor, said:

“Work is good for your health, both mentally and physically. It gives women a sense of purpose, self-efficacy, control and autonomy. They have a place where they are an expert on something, and they’re paid a wage.”

The study’s results reveal that 28% of unemployed mothers consider themselves depressed, while only 17% of working mothers feel similarly. Housewives are apparently more likely to be overweight, and women with inconsistent job situations were found to be the unhealthiest.

“Struggling to hold on to a job or being in constant job-search mode wears on their health, especially mentally, but also physically,” Frech explained. “It is harder to enter the workforce if you don’t have a solid work history. Don’t give up on work and education.”

She encouraged women to establish a stable work history before starting a family, so that they can easily return to the lifestyle later on.