Spring 2010

Spring 2010Issue Three

Hot Chocolate:the world’s mostseductive sweet

Love?Orjustabunchof chemicals messingwith your head?

On theRun forGood:Women’sMini Marathon

visit waitingroom.ie

MAGAZINEfreeyourTAKEHOME

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Only Foolsand HoaxesYou can fool LOTS of thepeople MOST of the time!

ReclaimYour BrainNo Pain, Big Gain

‘Frank’ talkfrom fiddlerextraordinaire,Frankie Gavin

Fit asa Fiddle

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“She’s ugly.Why did youbring me this thing”

3YOUR FREE COPY SPRING 2010 | THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE

insidefeatures09 On the Run for Goodthe ever-growing phenomenonthat is Dublin’s Flora Women’sMini Marathon

13 Hot Chocolatechocoholic reporter, MaureenCorbett’s favourite assignmentever, and it shows!

14 Only Fools and Hoaxeswhat’ll they think of next?Practical jokes through the ages

health12 Reclaim Your BrainA timely life-belt for thoseof us who need a calculatorto do 6x7 = ?

15 Under the Weatheracupuncturist Kathleen Dowdtakes a look at how wind effectsare viewed through the eyes ofexponents of both western andChinese medicine

16 Is This Love?science casts a merciless eye onthe supposed magical emotion

21 Up in the Hairit’s been on our minds, almostliterally, forever. How come?

25 Forewarned is Forearmedwe’ve all had them, but howdo vaccines work? Find out,in very plainspeak!

parenting19 Dinner for Twothings you shouldn’t eat whenyou’re pregnant, and thingsthat you certainly should!

regulars03 Notebookshort snippets of interest

06 Reviewfilm critic, Paul O’Dohertyreviews two recent releases,and our editor talks about hisstar of stars, Meryl Streep

24 Travelwalking the historic routeto Santiago De Compostella

26 Short Storythere’s a twist in this tale

28 Kidz Bitzfor the young, the young atheart, or if you’ve been waitinga really long time!

30 Fit as a Fiddlepersonal opinions from a man withlots of opinions, Frankie Gavin

competitions05 Glenlo Abbey Hotelfour breaks away to be had

27 Fantastic Fourback by popular demand!

29 Puzzlers’ Placetest your wits and skills

Staffers here at The Waiting Room Magazine have sud-denly found themselves writing for a much increasedreadership. Hospitals got wind of this unique magazine,written specifically for patients, that was available toGPs’ waiting areas, and we suddenly got calls request-ing supplies from these large institutions. Some hospi-tals had banned magazines because, traditionally, theycome, second-hand, from unknown sources, so it’s grat-ifying to know that by our second issue we have alreadyhad a significantly beneficial effect on the lot of ourreaders, you waiting patients. Mind you, we had alwaysplanned to supply hospitals, but later, and this sudden,rather unexpected upsurge in demand, has caused usto increase our print run to 80,000, making us, already,one of the largest circulation magazines in the state.But no one around here is lolling around on his orher laurels: we’re too busy preparing an online version!

After the floods and freeze-up the country has beenthrough, everyone is yearning for summer and, if notexactly long sunny weeks, then at least, long days.This of course brings to mind the Flora Women’s MiniMarathon in June, the ideal win-win opportunity to doyourself, and some favourite charity, a whole lot ofgood. Our female staffers are all promising to take part.You should join them.

I trust that your wait is being made slightly lesstrying by having this magazine to read. If so, pleasecontact us just to let us know. In the meantime, asis becoming customary now, may I, on behalf of theteam at The Waiting Room Magazine, wish you aspeedy recovery and continued good health.

Maurice O’Scanaill, Editor

welcome

EditorMaurice O’Scanaill 087 120 2486 Contributors Paul O’Doherty,Maureen Corbett,Ciara Mohan,Kathleen O’Dowd and Breandan O’ScanaillAdvertising Susan Maher 087 981 2503,Maurice Kennedy 087 965 5519,John Newberry 087 226 3232Managing DirectorHelen Gunning

Northampton, Kinvara, Co Galway 091 638205 [email protected]

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On 11th June, 2010, Pres.Mary McAleese will open theInternational Federation WorldCongress of Spina Bifida Hy-drocephalus associations. Inter-national experts will address thetwo-day conference hosted bySpina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ire-land (SBHI). e busy schedulewill highlight the most up-to-date developments in the areaof Spina Bifida and Hydro-cephalus and the internationalpanel of experts is a distin-

guished line-up of keynotespeakers such as: Dr BenjaminWarf (USA), Dr Timothy Brei(USA), Mr Muhammad Taufiq-A-Sttar (IRL), Dr Trudi Edgin-ton (UK) and Mr. PierreMertens (BEL). Also includedin the programme will be per-sonal accounts from Eli Skat-tebu (NOR) and John Fulham(IRE). Details from ThelmaCloake, Chairperson OrganisingCommittee 087 288 3279email: [email protected]

QueuesNewsAvoid queues withHSE’s great time-saving service. Ifyou’re looking forbirth, adoption,marriage or deathcertificates, justgo to certificates.ieand, hey presto,they will be deliv-ered by post toyou. A word ofwarning: youwill have to paya search fee sobe sure the eventhas actually beenregistered!

Spina Bifida HydrocephalusWorld Congress 2010

e first of February 2010 markedthe beginning of Hearing Aware-ness Week. TV medic (and DJ)Mark Hamilton and singer JulieFeeney got together to warn peopleof the dangers of overuse of MP3players. Volume and duration arethe factors implicated in perma-nently damaging hearing: basically,the louder you like it above the safethreshold, the shorter the time youshould listen at any one go. e60/60 Rule is sacred: 60 percentof maximum volume for 60 min-utes only. Hidden Hearing audiol-ogist Keith Ross said: “As a result of

years of listening to personal musicdevices at very loud volumes, we areseeing a huge increase in the numberof people sometimes as young as 30suffering from hearing loss which youmight expect a person aged over 70 tohave.” To mark the week, HiddenHearing offered free hearing testsin its mobile clinic or at any of itsfifty-seven branches and clinics na-tionwide. For every hearing testconducted, Hidden Hearing madea donation to the Irish Deaf Soci-ety. For advice on hearing issues,visit hearingawarenessweek.ieor call 1800 882 884.

The Sound of Silenceand the 60/60 rule

Good thingscome to thosewho wait...and this is really good!The Waiting Room Magazineis going online in March 2010You will find all the great arti-cles you enjoy to read againand share; more quality cross-words; expanded articles wheresome subjects have been keptshort because of space con-straints and exclusive ReaderPromotions just for you.

No better place to enjoy alittle retail therapy! Log onand register for FREE today andyou will be notified when thefirst offers are up for grabs!

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WINaluxurybreakawayin Ireland We have four fantastic breaks away

for four lucky readers worth k500

Just minutes from Galway city, stay at the Glenlo Abbey Hotel for twonights for two people in a suite with champagne and chocolates on ar-rival, one evening meal and a round of golf for two.

For your chance to win, just tell us:Where is the Glenlo Abbey Hotel?a) Galway b) Dublin c) Cork

To enter, call our hotline on 1513 415 048 or text TWR1followed by your answer, name, address to 53307Terms and conditions: 18+. €0.60 per entry incl VAT. Calls from mobile cost more. Network charges vary on SMS.Lines close midnight 20 April 2010. Entries made after the close date do not count and you may be charged.SP Phonovation Ltd. PO Box 6, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin. Helpline 0818217100. By entering this competitionyou may be contacted in the future regarding other promotions.

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movies

6 THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE | SPRING 2010 YOUR FREE COPY

review

Up In The Air: In a film shamelessfor its product placement of rental cars, airports,hotels and airlines, George Clooney plays RyanBingham, a corporate hatchet man for-hire,who when not firing poor unfortunates spendshis time ‘up in the air’ flying from destination-to-destination obsessed by frequent flyer miles.

Clooney smiles and coos reassuringly at all theright times and does his thing to perfection, andthe script rattles along until half way through thefilm with the Bingham character coming to termswith the Internet age philosophy that allows com-panies to fire their employees from a webcam, astrategy espoused by Natalie Keener, one of thenew suits, played by Anna Kendrick (previouslyTwilight and Elsewhere). It also has Clooney’s loveinterest, Alex Goran, another air-miles compul-sive, played by Vera Farmiga (previously The De-parted and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas),contributing to a story that’s tries to be a satire onthe norms and obsessiveness of air travel. How-ever, by midway, the Clooney charm wears offand the script goes, well, up-in-the-air and to usethe vernacular, encounters quite a bit of turbu-lence and doesn’t know when to land. Otherwise,Clooney, Kendrick and Farmiga are all watchable.

Our film critic, Paul O'Doherty, reviews tworecent releases, shortly to be available on DVD.

A Prophet: There’s a lot to like about this film, from the very beginning where we are introduced to MalikEl Djebena (played by virtual newcomer Tahar Rahim) arriving at a French prison to serve a six-year stretch. Ini-tially, Malik is a loner, caught between the Corsican mafia who run the prison and the various other elementssuch as the Muslim and Black prison gangs. Over time, and having done the Corsicans a major favour, Malikclimbs the ladder from criminal nobody to major player in how the prisoners rule themselves. Directed byJacques Audiard, who previously directed The Beat That My Heart Skipped and Read My Lips, it also has thebrilliant Niels Arestrup as a vicious Corsican Mafiosio, César Luciani, and a great array of character actors play-ing henchmen and fellow travellers. Overall, Rahim is astonishingly assured as the enigmatic rising star of theprison world, while Arestrup injects a bit of Lear to a once influential mob-boss now in decline, offering al-liances within the ‘family’ to anyone who’ll look after his outside enterprises. If it’s similar to the other greatprison films of the last year Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 and Mesrine: Killer Instinct starring Vincent Cassel, it’sbecause Abdel Raouf Dafri, who wrote these two, has a screen writing credit here, too. One of the films of theyear already, and not to be missed.

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DeathBecomes Her1992

With Goldie Hawn & BruceWillis. A dark comedy withamazing special effects, itfeatures two women lockedin an eternal but inter-depen-dent rivalry over a mortalman. At his funeral, they havean accident and, literally, goto pieces.

MammaMia!2008

A musical comedy with aplot woven around ABBAsongs. Donna’s (Streep)daughter invites three of hermother’s ex-lovers to her wed-ding, because no one knowswhich of them is her father.Streep is in fine voice and herversion of ‘Mamma Mia!’ wasa top ten hit in Portugal, an-other rare achievement. Sophie’s

Choice1982

Reckoned to be her best per-formance, Sophie, a Polishsurvivor of Auschwitz comesto America, meets a psychi-atric man, with whom shelives and, eventually dies bydouble suicide. The choice?At Auschwitz, she had to nomi-nate one of her two childrento be killed – or both wouldbe. Not fun, but memorable.

Silkwood1983

Based on real events, KarenSilkwood has a mixed up pri-vate life that gets worse whenshe becomes worried aboutdangerous short-cuts at thenuclear plant where sheworks. Ignored by official-dom, she arranges to meeta reporter with proof but, enroute to the meeting, head-lights roar up behind her,there’s a crash and she dies. Julie

&Julia2009

The first film based on ablog. Julie Powell, fed upwith a boring job, decides tocook all 524 French recipesin Mastering The Art OfFrench Cooking publishedalmost 50 years ago byfamous TV cook, Julia Child(Streep) and writes a dailyblog of her progress.

“She’s ugly.Why did youbring me this thing”

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Meryl StreepThat’s what Dino De Laurentiis told his son(in Italian) when he presented the aspiringyoung actress as a possible lead in King Kong(1976). He was mortified when Streep an-swered him in fluent Italian, but obviouslynot enough to give her the role. I don’tthink anyone would agree with De Lau-rentiis Snr though his son knew a winnerwhen he met one. Never regarded as oneof cinema’s great beauties, Meryl Streepis universally celebrated as one of itsgreatest actresses. She has appeared insome 50 movies. Here’s a sample thatdemonstrates her great versatility.

*Based on ACNielsen data (November 2009). **Based on daily consumption of 2g plant sterols (the amount found in a single mini drink or 3 portions of Flora pro.activfoods).As heart disease has multiple risk factors, you may need to improve more than one to reduce your overall risk.

The plant sterols in Flora pro.activ are clinically proven to lower cholesterol,a major risk factor in developing heart disease**. Combat cholesterol and

the e!ects of the recession with Flora pro.activ!To "nd out more, visit www.#orahearts.com

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9

The biggest single day charity event in Ireland, andthe biggest all-female event of its type in the world– the Flora Women’s Mini Marathon will be run on Monday 7 June 2010

Similar events in the UKand US attract only halfthe Dublin numbers –40,000 took part last year.In its 27 years, the flagshipevent has seen a steadyyear-on-year increase inpopularity and participa-tion. Racing, running, jog-ging, walking or going inwheelchairs, self-propelledor otherwise, the totalnumber of women whohave now completed thecourse has topped 600,000and they come from allparts of the country andabroad, converging on thecapital by car, bus, trainand plane. That representsa lot of fit women and awhole lot of money raisedfor charities – €100m todate, and counting.

Success in the FloraWomen’s Mini Marathonmeans just crossing theline, but still, participantsneed some level of personalfitness. This is achievedthrough a combination ofgood diet, sensible training,awareness of the impor-tance of steady, long-termpreparation and the use ofproper equipment, espe-cially footwear. Prepara-tion, precautions, trainingprotocols and how toprogress over the weeks, areall dealt with very well onthe website and now is thetime to get started. If youintend to run seriously ortackle a whole marathon,you will need at least threemonths planned training.

A significant num-ber of participantscouple their bigday with sponsor-ship for a favourite

charity, so why don’t you?You’re doing the run any-way, so it’ll cost you noth-ing; but it will mean a lotto those less fortunate.

Participants have citedthe following reasons fortaking part; personal fit-ness; camaraderie; self-ful-fillment; accepting achallenge and sponsorshipfor a favourite charity.

The RunnersYou may not be a SoniaO’Sullivan (who, in 2000,clocked a record 31mins28secs) or Caitriona McK-iernan who has wonit four times, but if Mau-reen Armstrong (85!) fromThurles could do it in2009, then you can as well.Trust me. Trust yourself!Prepare properly and you,and your favourite charity,will be assured of a mostenriching experience.

MaureenArmstrong’sage when shefinished the Women’sMini Marathon in 2009as it’s eldest entrant!

The Marathon is named after the Battle of Marathon (490BC) in which the Athenians defeatedthe invading Persian army. According to tradition, the Athenian hero, Pheippides, ran all the way fromMarathon to Athens (40km), to tell of the great victory. Then, exhausted, he died on the spot. Small won-der! Poor Pheippides had run 250 km in two days just before that. And fought in the fierce battle!

OntheRun... forgood!

YOUR FREE COPY SPRING 2010 | THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE

feature

With four months to go, makesure you’re prepared to run 10km

Mini Guide:Proper training, mindset and nutritionalreadiness is all needed to run thatdaunting distance!

Run a MileTraining is vital. Begin preparation earlyby judging your running abilities – howlong and often do you run? Training isabout mile and time counting. Runshort distances during the week, sav-ing the weekends for longer runs,building up the distances gradually.Taper off your running amount so

that your muscles have fully recoveredin time for the race. Take your last longrun two weeks before the race. A com-bination of work and rest produces anincredible array of changes, includinggreater muscle-glycogen stores,improved running economy andheightened mental freshness.

Tuck InA proper diet is crucial for training.Eat carbohydrates – especially thoserich in complex carbs and vitamins andprotein. Fluids are essential, especiallyin the last days before a race. Up yourcarbohydrate and fluid intake the weekbefore the race. The night before, eat agood meal, but don’t overstuff yourself.You want to be light on your feet whenthe gun goes off.Be sure to eat something on training

runs and during the marathon. It mightseem strange to eat while exercising,but foods like sports bars and potassi-um-rich bananas, are easily digestedand are perfect to up your energy.

All in the MindMental ability is needed to finish a longdistance race. Especially when you hita point in your run where you’re tired,your legs hurt or you’re hungry.Think about the finish line. Take

things slowly. Think positively andthat the pain is temporary. Unless

of course you have a seriousinjury coming on – then takethe proper care. If it’s just aquestion of whether or notyou can finish, this is a raceagainst yourself.

Exercises that focuson the mind, like yoga,not only strengthensyour powers to medi-tate and reduce stress,it also stretches yourmuscles and allowsyou to visualiseyour success.

In January 2009, I joinedWeight Watchers and, at myfirst weigh-in, was horrifiedto see 14st10lbs register onthe scale. I knew then that Ihad a long and challengingjourney ahead of me so I setmyself a few goals.

Firstly, I signed on for theWoman’s Mini-Marathon,along with three friends. Wedecided to raise funds for aGalway charity as my friend'sdaughter avails of their serv-ices. Before we had even com-pleted the Mini-Marathon, thecharity asked us if we wouldbe interested in doing the NewYork Marathon and, withoutreally thinking of the conse-quences, I said why not! Wetrained in pairs, which I foundreally helpful especially on thedays when I just did not wantto train.

Mini Marathon Day ar-rived and what a day it was!The sun beamed down on theforty thousand participantsand the atmosphere was elec-tric. We set off and finishedin under an hour, which Iwas delighted with. Lookingabout me, as I swept alongin the great torrent of run-ners, jog-gers andwalkers, Irealisedthat nei-ther age

nor ability really matter onmarathon day. For me the realmagic was in finishing, raisingmoney for a worthwhile char-ity and having a memorableday out with friends

Fundraising for the NewYork Marathon then beganand that involved a lot ofwork. We organised coffeemornings, a celebrity chefnight, a table quiz, bag-pack-ing in our local supermarketsand various raffles. This workis not easy but, when you havea special affinity with a part-icular charity and the valuablework that it does, it makesthe challenge so much easier.

On Nov 1, some fivemonths after Dublin, as Istood on the start line onStaten Island, with twenty sixmiles (and a bit) ahead of me,so many things were goingthrough my head. Had Itrained enough? Would I havethe resolve to keep going whenthings got tough? The shortanswer is: yes I did.I did completemy first full

marathon and we raised over€17,000 for our chosen charity.

It’s now Feb 2010 and Iweigh 12st3lbs, most of it leanmuscle. It’s nearly time to signon for Dublin and New Yorkagain. Apart from morefundraising, my goal this yearis to improve my times in thetwo races and also to lose moreweight. Ten stone here I come!

In case you’re moved by thisarticle to rush out and starttraining at once, don't. Distancerunning, particularly if you arenot very fit, requires very carefulpreparation. You should join aclub or team up with an experi-enced runner but most of allyou should check out a correcttraining schedule. Excellentgeneral advice is available onflorawomensminimarathon.ie

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Why do some runners ‘hit the wall’?Carbohydrates are converted by the liver and muscles into glyco-gen for storage. Glycogen burns quickly to provide quick ener-gy. Runners can store about 2,000 kcal worth of glycogen intheir bodies, enough for about 30 km of running. Whenglycogen runs low, the body must then burn stored fat forenergy, which does not burn as readily. When this happens, therunner will experience dramatic fatigue and is said to ‘hit the wall’.

MyStory Niamh Lawless, a serial marathon runnerfrom County Galway on how she did it!

THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE | SPRING 2010 YOUR FREE COPY10


feature

Give them a run for their money! Support voluntary groupsacross Ireland. As you run, help those who would love tobut can’t. Do it for them, as a gift from you.

Serving children aged 2 to 6 withlanguage delays and disorders

Our pre school group offer a structuredapproach to language learning and offerABA to children diagnosed with Autism.

The ABA programme offers intensive1:1 language development sessions.

We would greatly appreciate anysupport through the Women’s MiniMarathon. Thank you! Charity No: 18513

091 877875 visit cldp.ie

Please help us to provide

mental health servicesat St. Patrick’s University Hospital

Mental HealthMatters

One in four people in Irelandsuffers from mental illness

For a Women’s Mini MarathonSponsorship Pack please contact

the Friends of St. Patrick’son 01 249 3632 or email

[email protected] you!

Take part in the Flora Women’s Mini-Marathon on the 7th of June 2010For more information call 1850 33 43 53 or email [email protected]

Run, walk or jog in the 2010Flora Women’s Mini MarathonBy taking part and raising funds for theIrish Society for Autism you will be

helping us to continue to maintain andimprove services for people with Autism.

For your sponsorship pack pleaseemail [email protected] orcontact Gemma on 01 874 4684

View all our information andevents or donate online at

www.autism.ie

Take part in the Flora Women’s Mini Marathonand raise money for St Vincent’s University Hospital

You can nominate the specific causeyou want to support within St Vincent’s.

For a sponsorship pack and details

please contact us on 01 2215065or email [email protected]

the fund run

If you’re feeling a trifle unfit, a littlebelow par, a doubtful starter for anevent like a marathon, even a minione, just reflect for a moment onSouth African, Oscar Pistorius, theso called Blade Runner or TheFastest Man on No Legs. Bornwith a deformity that required bothlegs to be amputated at an earlyage, Oscar has had an extraordi-nary sporting career – playingrugby, water-polo, tennis,

wrestling, all played to a high level,college and interprovincial. But itwas running that has brought himinto world prominence. Firstbanned from the Beijing Olympics– because his special J-shaped,carbon-fibre prosthetic legs, theCheetah Flex-Foot, were reckonedto give him an advantage overable-bodied athletes – the deci-sion was later overruled in May2008. However, Oscar just failed

to make the qualifying times andtherefore was not selected for theSouth African team. He has highhopes, though, for London 2012.In the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing,he won gold at 100, 200 and 400metres and has shattered manyworld records. His ambition is tohold world records in able-bodiedcompetition.But you don’t have to travel to

South Africa to find such obstinate

courage. Our own Ronan Tynan,also a double leg amputee, holds14 gold medals and 18 worldrecords in athletics. Not contentwith excelling in one field, Ronan isalso a singer with an internationalreputation. A one-time member ofthe Irish Tenors, he has entertainedUS presidents as well as our own.In the middle of all this hectic lifehe also found time to study medi-cine at TCD, graduating in 1993.

Great feats with not so great feet...

The less we exercise our bod-ies, the more unfit they get,and the same is true of ourbrains. People who hand overordinary minor physical jobs tomachines like escalators, lifts, cars,tractor-lawnmowers (for a subur-ban square of grass smaller than atennis court) miss out on healthyexercise during normal everydaytasks, and the same goes for people

who spend ten minutessearching for a calculatorwhen all they need is to adda list of five figures. Modern

living seems to conspire toset us back both physically andmentally. Using our clevernessto help us in our work is clever.Using our cleverness to enableus to be lazy is stupid. ButLazy, it seems, Rules OK.And it’s getting worse.

When awake thebrain generates

25 watts of power– enough energy towork a light bulb!

Schools used to train the mem-ory; pupils learned formulae,

poems and tables by rote andcould parrot them out when

needed, like pushing thePlay button. Then thatbecame unfashionable –

it was not teaching children tothink for themselves. I don’t know.I can still trot out stuff I learnedhalf a century ago. And I can thinkfor myself. So maybe the two facili-ties aren’t mutually exclusive?

Even our capacity to amuse our-selves (another brain function) isbeing stripped away. Simple gameslike noughts and crosses, ChineseChequers, draughts, Hangman,Jig-saws, all carried inbuilt mentalchallenges, but these are now veryrare, steamrolled almost to extinc-tion by a tsunami of video and elec-tronic games. Some of these areindeed very demanding mentallywhile others are less so. However,games at least require some interac-tion of eye, hand, brain and re-flexes, which is more than can besaid for watching endless videos,when the only interaction requiredis pressing the appropriate buttonon the remote. After that energetictask has been completed, viewers,with their own human ingenuityfirmly locked in sleep mode, cansit back to be passively entertainedby the often dubious product of thefertile brains of others.

Brain TrainingSo, to brain exercises. Do they work?A recent study of almost 3,000 peo-ple of 65 years and over, found along-lasting improvement in brainpower after a course of just ten 60-75 minute sessions spread over fiveweeks. Where there had alreadybeen some age-related diminution,this was also largely reversed.

But start early, with your childrenor grand-children. Think. Instead ofputting them in the back-seat witha mini-DVD player so that they areout of it for the whole journey, whynot play a game of adding up theregistration numbers of oncomingcars, or think of a country, an ani-mal, a book or film that begins withthe registration letter, or play CityBreaks, breaking the name of a cityor country into syllables which arethen hidden within a sentence forthe others to work out. (eg. ‘Jack’snoisy motorbike was driving him mad,so he got rid of it.’ = mad + rid =Madrid. Or ‘The barman told Tomhe could have one more glass but thenhe’d have to go home.’ = Glasgow.)

It’s your brain. Employ it or de-stroy it. It’s a trophy or it’s atrophy.


feature

ReclaimyourBrain

We’re not the animal kingdom’s fastest, strongest,best swimmers, jumpers or climbers; in truth, we’repretty puny, but we have one attribute that makesus undisputed rulers of the planet: we can outthink

even the very cleverest of the other inhabitants.

Try brain training online at GAMESFORTHEBRIAN.COM or improveyour memory at LUMOSITY.COM ...we also liked SHARPBRAIN.COM


feature

While Forrest Gumpthinks that ‘Life is likea box of chocolates’, Ithink ‘Chocolate is likea box of Life’ and I amforever grateful to thatbrilliant Mayan orAztec, who, one fineMesoamerican morn-ing, was inspired tomix some groundcocoa beans withwater, thus creatingthe first chocolatedrink. Initially thiswas reserved as a treatfor royal males andpriests but, luckily,both the chocolatemaking process, andthe ancient rules ofconsumption havechanged greatlysince then. Phew!

According to Ire-land’s first (and only)World Chocolate Am-bassador, DirkSchonkeren of HelenaChocolates in Castle-bar, Co. Mayo, themodern chocolatemaking process is adelicate one. It requiresgreat expertise, concen-tration, and a creativeimagination that daresto go where no otherchocolatier has gonebefore. Dirk’s chocolateingredients are, ofcourse, a trade secret,but include such exoticflavours as curry,mango and hot chilli.When I asked him ifthere was any truth inthe scientific theoriesthat eating dark choco-late with a cocoa levelof 65% or higher, canhave health benefits,such as reducing yourblood pressure andlowering cholesterol, hesmiled and replied thathe was “a chocolatierand not a scientist”and passed me an-other little darkpillow of pleasure.

Chocolate is associ-ated with happinessand romance, and isbelieved by some tobe an aphrodisiac.The reason for this isa chemical one. Whenwe eat chocolate ourbrain releases the‘happy’ endorphins,phenylethylamine andserotonin, which pro-duce feelings of happi-ness and pleasure thatare similar to the feel-ings of being in love.Apparently, womenare more susceptible tothese chocolate effectsthan men– could thisexplain why men tradi-tionally buy chocolatesfor women as ‘roman-tic’ gestures?

Chocolate also con-tains over 300 differentchemicals, some ofwhich are thought tohave the same effects ascertain mood enhanc-

ing drugs such asecstasy or cannabis.Certain chocolateingredients can causean allergic reaction insome humans (notme!), and it is impor-tant for pet-owners tobe aware that the ingre-dient, theobromine, ispoisonous to dogs.

From the past to thepresent, chocolate hashad many differentuses and has been pro-duced in a myriad ofdifferent forms. Forexample, in the 18thcentury, chocolate wasused as a medicine to

cure tummy ache,while us children ofthe 20th century weretold it would cause atummy ache!

Did you know thatchocolate containsantioxidants, whichare beneficial to theskin, and is used inblissful sounding spatreatments such aschocolate milk baths,and chocolate fonduewraps? Neither did I,but it sounds divine,and before you ask,no, that is not meon the right!

HotChocolateMaureen Corbett takes a closer lookat the World’s Most Seductive Sweet

During his travels in the 15th century, Christopher Columbus could have discovered choco-late, as well as America. Having tasted the chocolate drink he dismissed its importance and setsail again without it (how could he?), but the Spanish explorers who followed later realised thesignificance of thiswonderful discovery, and took both the recipe and ingredients back to theRoyal Court of Spain. When a Spanish princess later married the King of France she took thesecret chocolate recipe to France (clever girl) from where it spread to the rest of Europe.

Hello... my name is Maureenand I am a chocoholic...


featureevolution, a physicist with a sense ofhumour wrote an article claimingthat Alabama’s Legislature had votedto change the value of pi. Of course,being a mathematical constant, pi’svalue can’t be changed, and the paperduly produced uproar.

SEND UPIn 1976, Sir Patrick Moore, the fa-mous astronomer, told a BBC radioaudience that a unique alignment ofJupiter and Pluto would cause anupward gravitational pull, makingpeople lighter for a very brief fewseconds. He invited his audience tojump in the air at precisely 9:47amand experience the “strange floatingsensation.” Dozens of grateful listenersphoned in to say that the experiencehad been exhilarating.

FABRICATIONIn 1962, when colour TV was inits infancy, the Swedish national tel-evision broadcaster did an in-depthshow on how one could get colourTV by placing a nylon stocking infront of a black and white set, explain-ing in great detail the complex physicsthat gave the effect. People spenthours and went through many pairsof nylons trying to get it to work.

HOT HEADSIn 1995, the magazine, Discover,

reported that a noted biologisthad discovered a previously un-known penguin-eating mam-mal in Antarctica. TheHotheaded Naked Ice-Borerhad a bony protuberance onits forehead that was so richly

supplied with blood-vessels that

It’s not just sillyindividuals who havenothing better to do

with their time that getinvolved in dreaming

up daft pranks.

There are many theories onhow this widespread tradi-tion came into being, but myfavourite is the one that attributes itto one of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales(c1400AD) The tale of two vainfools, the rooster, Chanticleer, andthe Fox, takes place on March 32nd!

In some countries, fooling peopleall day long is permissible but inothers, you’ve only got until noonto do your hoaxing. After that, thewould-be fooler becomes the fool.

Some of the best ‘April Fools’ areperpetrated on their mass audiencesby highly respectable and normallystaid bodies like multinational cor-porations, newspapers, radio andTV channels. Even the stolid BBChas been known to indulge, beingresponsible for a famous 1957hoax when sober TV programme,Panorama, showed relieved Italianfarmers harvesting a healthy crop ofspaghetti from their spaghetti trees.

The ‘newsworthy’ story accompany-ing the footage was the eradicationof the ruinous Spaghetti Weevil.The ‘harvest’ was filmed in UK,and the hoax worked brilliantly:many viewers called in for informa-tion on where to get spaghetti treesand how to grow them.

WHOPPERSome years ago, Burger King offeredthe Left Handed Whopper, aWhopper for left-handers, cleverlydesigned, they claimed, so that thesauces would drip out of the rightside. Many customers ordered thenew burgers, but some tradi-tionalist purists said theywould accept only the old,right-handed ones.

PIBLE BELTAs the southern states ofthe US have a reputationfor questioning science, like

HOAXESONLYFOOLS

In 1946, over 150 people died in Hawaii and Alaska when a Tsunami warning wasthought by many to be a hoax. The deadly wave became known in Hawaii as The April Fools’

Day Tsunami. In 1984, legendary Motown singer, Marvin Gaye was shot dead by his father. For days afterwards,people assumed it was a fake report, the belief being reinforced by the bizarre twist of the father being the killer.

FALSE HOAXES In spite of its widespread notoriety, there seems to be anendless supply of gullible punters who will swallow the most outlandishstories. But the problem with real news events happening on April 1is that many people, afraid of being caught out, refuse to believe them.

The firstof April is

the day weremember

what we arethe other

364days of

the year.Mark Twain

� � � and � � �

Whether it’s called the SantaAna in California, theKhamsin in the Middle East,The Foehn in Switzerland orthe Chinnok on the prairiesof North America, the warmwind that sweeps down theleeward side of mountainranges has long been knownto play havoc with the healthand minds of those living inits path. Personalities change;migraines are more common;suicides, homicides, violentcrime and even accidents in-crease by some 10 per cent.

In some countries, judgeshand down more lenient sen-tences for crimes committedwhile the Foehn winds wereblowing. The reasons for allthis wind-associated mayhemare not really understood inour must-know-the-cause-of-everything western society butChinese physicians have, formillennia, classified illnessesaccording to the element ofnature they most closelyresemble, in either theirmethod of spread or the char-acter of their symptoms. Toconvey information to a large-ly illiterate population, theyequated disharmonies withinthe body with natural ele-ments, the wind, dampness,cold, heat. Even today thesedescriptions are still used, be-cause they are accurate as wellas being descriptive.

Wind will carry cold,damp heat or any exteriorpathogen into the body. Howthe body reacts depends on itsconstitution and the environ-ment: a strong, healthy indi-vidual might catch a mild,transient head cold, which,in a weak person, understress, might prove very

persistent or even developinto rheumatism or arthritis.Like the wind itself, whichcan vary from the gentlestof breezes to tempestuouscyclones ‘wind’ illnesses enterlocally but then the pain,stiffness and swelling shiftaround the body almost, itseems, capriciously, at will.

Chinese medicine datesback thousands of years,though the earliest manu-scripts uncovered to date goback only two millennia, dis-covered in the early 1970s inthe tomb of Li Cang, Lord ofDai (d. 186BCE). The manu-scripts describe practices notdissimilar to those currentlyused. Modern western medi-cine has links to Galen, aGreek physician (b.129AD),whose theory concerning the‘four humors’ lasted until therenaissance period, whenmethodical dissection ofthe body began and westernphysicians started to developa deeper understanding of itsworkings.

The principal differencebetween Chinese and westernmedicine is that westernmedicine is invasive andChinese is not. Chinese medi-cine tends towards preven-tion, largely because surgery isnot often used. The diagnos-tic procedure alsodiffers. Chinesephysicians placegreat emphasison the ‘Four Exami-nations’: inquiry,looking or inspect-ing, listening orsmelling and palpa-tion; these are alsoused by westernphysicians, but rou-

tinely augmented by bloodtests, x-rays, ultrasounds,MRI, etc. Pulse-taking iscommon to both systems,but approached differently.In Chinese medicine, eachorgan has a correspondingpulse position on the radialartery and there are also dif-ferent pulse positions aroundthe body, again, each relatedto an organ. The pulse is alsotaken at three depths and onboth wrists. In western medi-cine, pulse is also taken onthe radial artery but is usedmerely to indicate rate andstrength, and possibly bloodpressure, and no conclusionsare drawn about the condi-tion of individual organsfrom the pulse.

Western medicine has an-tibiotics, surgery and drugsthat Chinese medicine doesnot, but Chinese medicinehas acupuncture, herbal med-icine, Qi Gong and moxibus-tion, to name just a fewmodalities, and these haveproven to be very effectiveover the centuries. Both sys-tems of medicine work tosupport and cure patients.Each is effective in its ownway and they can be used sideby side for prevention, cureand continued good health.We need both.

it could become hot enough to rap-idly melt the ice beneath its targetpenguin so that the poor slow-mov-ing bird would become bogged inthe ensuing slush. It would then bescoffed by the voracious Hothead.It was even suggested that a Hot-headed Naked Ice-Borer had beenresponsible for the mysteriousdisappearance of a 19th centuryAntarctic explorer, mistaking himfor a very large penguin! Muchheated debate followed, possiblyheated enough to melt the icebeneath a juicy penguin.

15

under theweather

FAMOUS HOAXESIn the early 1900s,ancient skull fragments foundnear Piltdown in UK were puttogether and declared to be theMissing Link in the evolution ofapes to man. For over 40 years,Piltdown Man was accepted asscientific fact, until 1953 whenit was shown that some of thebones were almost certainlyfrom an orangutan. There wereseveral suspects for the perpetra-tor of the fraud, including SirArthur Conan Doyle, creator ofSherlock Holmes.

In 1938, the great OrsonWelles was unintentionally re-sponsible for mass hysteria in theUS when he adapted HG Wells’novel, The War of the Worlds, tomake it sound like live news cov-erage of an actual invasion ofearth from space. The radio pro-gramme began with a warning

that it was onlya drama, andthis was re-peated after 40minutes, butthousandsmissed thesewarnings andwere taken inby the ex-treme realism

of the acting and the sound ef-fects. Widespread panic ensued.

A portrait of several specialists examining the re-mains of ‘Piltdown man’, a palenotological hoax.

‘The Martian’ in Wok-

ing, England

It’s an illwindWind. Source of power and propulsion. But sometimesa source of strange and unexplained sickness.

YOUR FREE COPY SPRING 2010 | THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE

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him&her

lexander NestorHaddaway’s 1993hit-song plain-tively askedWhat Is Love?

but, unfortunately, didn’tprovide any answers. Still,I hope Haddaway doesn’tfeel too bad about it be-cause better brains thanhis have been defeated bythis age-old question eversince Homo became sapiens,and none of them ever hada No1 hit record or made asmall fortune in royaltiesout of it.

Historically the heart hasbeen the site of love, fol-

lowed closely by thesoul and – at least

according to TheTroggs and, later,

Wet

Wet Wet– the fingers

and the toes, but sciencehas scotched that one for

once and for all and it isnow official: the site of love is

in two areas of the brain calledthe ventral tegmental area andthe caudate nucleus. Withnames like that, I can’t see lyri-cists and poets ever giving up onthe heart and soul, at least not

without a huge struggle. Imag-ine Elton John and Kiki Deetrying to make ‘Don’t go breakin’my ventral tegmental area...’sound sexy, or Sinatra crooningsadly because ‘I left my caudatenucleus in San Francisco, high ona hill, it calls to me.’ And anyway,

love isn’t a ‘feeling’ at all, nor astate, no matter how won-drous or how many-splen-doured it may be felt to be:

research shows hat it is whathappens when a brain chemicalcalled dopamine becomes acti-vated, triggered by a person withspecific looks, smells, character,feels, sounds, proportions andpossibly memories that are spe-cific to each individual.

SWEATY T-SHIRTSWe all react differently to differ-ent parameters which is why somany people say: ‘I just can’timagine what she sees in him.’Obviously a case of contrastingdopamine triggers. A fascinatingresearch project involved 49young women smelling sweatyT-shirts that had been worn byyoung men and saying whichsmelled the best and which theworst. The result showed thateach woman was attracted toT-shirts of men whose DNAmakeup (genotype) was mostdifferent to her own – naturemaking as sure as possible,perhaps, that any deficienciesin the woman’s genotype wouldbe compensated for by search-ing as far away as possible fromit for a breeding partner? An-other brain chemical, serotonin,has been blamed by Italian re-searchers who found that sero-tonin levels were down by 40per cent in people who are pas-sionately in love. They foundthat the same thing was true ofOCD (Obsessive CompulsiveDisorder) sufferers. You candraw your own conclusions,

but phrases about being ‘madlyin love’ or being ‘mad about’someone begin to take on aring of truth.

This dopamine/serotoninmixture seems to provide thebasis for ‘mad’ passionate loveonly, and is reckoned to waneafter about four years. In purelybiological terms, this is aboutthe length of time invested incourtship, mating, producing an

Why we should be demanding oxytocin tests fromour prospective life-partners before tying the knot

Isthis love?

A

THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE | SPRING 2010 YOUR FREE COPY16

Whosaid that...“Howon earth are you ever going to explain interms of chemistry and physics so important abiological phenomenon as first love?”Albert Einstein

YOUR FREE COPY

him&her

offspring and getting it to thestage where it can be handedover to a non-breeding memberof the tribe or clan for contin-ued rearing, thus completing aDNA-offspring cycle. Withtheir duty now done and theircommon offspring safely out ofthe helpless stage, the parentsare free of it, and can lookaround to mate again, not nec-essarily with the same partner.

Even long-term monogamousrelationships have a chemicalbasis, a hormone called oxy-tocin. This is produced by bothsexes, though it is usually asso-ciated with females, being vitalfor uterine contractions duringdelivery and for milk let-downduring nursing. Mammals thatexhibit monogamy are foundto have high levels of oxytocin,but when these levels are artifi-cially reduced over long peri-ods, promiscuity increases.Maybe we should all demandoxytocin tests from ourprospective life-partnersbefore tying the knot.

ALL IN THE BRAINThe chemicals that controllove, in either its sprint ormarathon manifestations, arevery powerful indeed and theold saying that Love ConquersAll is supported by endless evi-dence. And the All that loveconquers includes commonsense. Ask Romeo and Julietwhat happens when a Montaguefalls for one of the loathed Ca-pulets and vice versa. Ask mem-bers of different castes in Indiawhat happens when love blos-soms across rigid caste-barriers.Or ask young people in certainreligious groups who have thetemerity to try to choose theirown partner. And yet, despitemillennia of instilled tradition,and foreknowledge of the awfulpenalties that await them, theycan’t help falling in love. Oncethe dopamine / serotonin takehold, commonsense goes outthe window. And, unfortu-nately, being loaded to the gillswith oxytocin isn’t always a pro-tection against the two passion-ate brain chemicals.

So now you know it – lovepotions do exist. They existwithin you, within everyone.Naturally.

20, 1

60

estimated minutesthe average personwill spend kissingin their lifetime

kisses is a recordfor the movie,Don Juan (1927)

191

the number oftimes Americangrandmother LindaWolfe has walkeddown the aisle

23

As a youngster growing up on a farm withpoorish soil, I soon got to know that, unlessthe ewes were given copper supplements whenthey were ‘carrying’, many of the spring lambswould never gambol about as lambs are sup-posed to. Born with spinal defects, swaybacklambs would either be extremely wobbly ontheir little hind legs or else fully paralysed. Andthere was no cure. Giving them copper at thatstage would be, as my father would say, ‘LikeMa sprinkling baking powder on a flat littleloaf, after it comes out of the oven.’ The near-est analogy in human terms would be SpinaBifida, the deficiency in this case being, not

copper, but folic acid, essential in the firstmonth post-conception, when the embryonicspinal cord (the neural tube) is closing off.

The subject of what to eat is covered so wide-ly that it is pointless trying to give a detailed listhere. Basically, a diet that keeps you healthy,should also be largely acceptable for your baby.If you are a vegetarian or vegan, it might bewiser to consider supplements. Ask your GP.

Comprehensive lists of the dos and don’tsof eating and drinking during pregnancy areavailable on numerous websites and from yourhealth professional. You would be wise to con-sult – and heed – them!

Some of the potentially harmfulthings you should watch for:

Alcohol is a big no-no. None atall in the first three months, andthen, if you feel you really must(but why?) in very small and infre-quent amounts

Smoking is also a major no-no.Try to avoid even passive smoking

‘Recreational’ drugs – anotherhuge and absolute no-no. Evendrugs taken for medicinal purpos-es ought to be avoided if possible.Consult your health professionalbefore taking them

Blue cheese, soft cheese,brie, camembert – sometimesharbour bacteria that are relativelyharmless to adults

Rare meat and processedmeats, for the same reasons.

Some fish such as shark, tunaand swordfish, have high levels ofmercury, a heavy metal poison

Raw or soft-boiled eggs– salmonellosis risk

Liver and liver products, like paté.High Vitamin A levels are not good

Any products to which your baby’sfather might be allergic. So mightthe baby!

Unpasteurised milk anddairy products

Caffeine – coffee or caffeine-based soft drinks are best avoided

If you are very, very fond of someor even all of the above, relax:it’ll all be over in a few months.Unless, of course, you intend to...breastfeed?


growingfamily

Ireland has a very high incidence of Spina Bifida. If you are a woman of child-bearing age, don’t trust your diet to supplyyour folic acid. To make even your surprise baby safe, follow the one on one practice: take One 40mg tablet, Once a day.

FoodEating well doesn’t meanpickles and ice cream forbump

Enjoy a good read... There's nothing quite as a relaxing asa good read. In bed, on the train, on the beach, getting stuck into

your favourite author's latest, or trying something new, it's one oflife's great joys. Book clubs are becoming more popular so why

not join one and give the brain a social night now and then?

Developed especially for infants from threemonths to five years,Wellkid® Baby &Infant liquid formula provides a balancedrange of essential vitamins to help safeguard

your growing infant’s nutritional intakeand help maintain energy release and ahealthy immune system. It also con-tains Swiss Alpine malt as a naturalenergy source; making it a great

taste your little ones will love.Wellkid® Baby& Infant liquidformula is avail-able nationwide

La Roche-Posay launch NEW24Hr Physiological Deodorantsfor sensitive skin which are gentleand effective. They neutralise odoursproviding soothing and anti-irritating protection with 24hrlong efficacy, while respectingthe skin’s physiological balance.

rescueremediesgive your body,mind and soul a lift


‘Sweet’ Dreams – well,‘chocolate’, actuallyCanadian sleep expert, Dr CraigHudson, author of Feel Great Dayand Night, has come up with a veryinnovative product, a chocolate thatcontains tryptophan, one of nature’srelaxing agents. RestBites not onlytaste great but the Zenbev they con-tain helps you to nod off peacefully.Check out perfectnightssleep.com

A GOOD HOME REMEDY FOR TIRED, ACHY FEET IS

TO SOAK THEM. POUR ONE CUP OF EPSOM SALTS

INTO A BUCKET OF HOT WATER. SOAK

FOR TEN MINUTES. THEN DRY THEM

COMPLETELY ANDWEAR THICK SOCKS

TO PROVIDE GREATER SUPPORT. SOAKING

THE FEET IN EPSOM SALTS CAN IMPROVE

BLOOD FLOW, MAKING FEET LESS

PRONE TO STRESS RELATED

WITH PHYSICAL EXERTION

In the GrooveVichy Research and Developmentconducted a study on 20 womenover 20 years monitoring theirfacial signs of ageing. The women

were measured at 4 differentintervals over the

20 years.

The results?1 Embryonic wrinkles:These wrinkles are programmedto appear over time; to begin withthey look like an area of smalldots but with time they becomeconnected.2 Reversible wrinkles: Thesewrinkles deepen as the day pro-gresses; can be caused throughstress, fatigue or dehydration.3 Permanent wrinkles: Wrinklesthat appear as deep grooves andproceed to get deeper over time.LiftActiv Retinol Night is Vichy’sfirst total wrinkle plumping carewith Retinol +A, and acts on allthree types of wrinkles.Vichy has a trained team of skin

specialists based in independentpharmacies throughout Ireland.Visit www.vichyconsult.ie

beauty

Hair colour, length, style anddecoration have reflected thesocial and cultural trends ofdifferent civilisations.

An ancient Roman law decreedthat the ‘ladies of the night’ had todye their hair blonde, while inancient Egypt, indigo was consid-ered to be the most erotic colour.

A woman’s hairstyle was oftenindicative of her marital status.Married Aztec women wore theirhair in two horn-like tufts whileunmarried girls wore their hairstraight, and waist length.

ReligionMen also had hair issues. A beard-ed ancient Greek boasted his virili-ty, while Peter the Great of Russiaimposed a ‘beard’ tax. In today’sworld, hair and religion remainclosely intertwined, with Sikhsbelieving that cutting their God-given hair is a non-acceptance ofHis will, and Rastafarians regard-ing their long uncombed dread-locks as ‘God’s antenna’ and, there-fore, a mystical link to Him.

ScienceIn Western society, hair has becomelargely a fashion accessory to mostof us, but scientists in the fields offorensic criminology, medicine andanthropology have a more detailedinterest. The science of hair (trichol-

ogy) is now widely used in moderncriminology: DNA testing and‘sample matching’ of even a singlestrand can prove a link to a crimescene or victim, while chemicalanalysis can reveal an individual’slevel of alcohol and drug consump-tion over the previous year, andindicate the body’s intake of certainminerals or toxins.

When Napoleon Bonaparte diedin 1821 his valet kept a lock of hishair, which was recently tested usingneutron activation analysis. This testproved that his death was caused byarsenic poisoning over a period ofabout four months, and not stom-ach cancer as originally claimed.

In 1994, a lock of Beethoven’shair, cut from his head in 1827,

HairMarge Simpsonof Springfield and

Dusty Springfield hadone thing in common,

big hair!

Since our cave living days, hair has played an integral rolein all aspects of human life. Maureen Corbett investigates.

Upinthe

was sold at Sotheby’s for $7,300.Analysis showed the hair to con-tain over 100 times the averagelead content revealing that he suf-fered from lead poisoning.

EvolutionAnthropologists have suggestedreasons to explain why humansshed their thick coating of bodyhair during their evolution. Onepossibility is that it was to rid usof disease-carrying, blood suckingticks, fleas and lice that hide inhair – but then why didn’t othermammals also shed their hair?

Another suggestion is that wegot rid of our hair to cool us whenour ancestors left the forest shadeand ventured out into the hotAfrican sun – but then why haven’tpeople like the Amazon tribes orAfrican pygmies, who have neverleft the jungle, kept their bodyhair, or why haven’t Eskimosevolved a thick warm coat of hairback again? An even more intrigu-ing question might be why, whenwe began to lose our body hair,didn’t we shed it all? Why haveisolated and seemingly uselesspatches remained in our groinsand armpits? The answer, accord-ing to scientists is just evolu-tion playing Cupid! Special(apocrine) sweat glands locat-ed in the armpit and pubicareas produce a scent whichis unique to each individualand is attractive to prospectivemates. The hair follicles trapthis signature scent that iscommunicatedfrom humanto humanthrough theirsense of smell.



healthmatters

Make NoBonesHealthy bones are like banks: themore deposits you make, the morewithdrawals you can count on. Dietplays a major role in ensuring healthybones. In particular, Calcium andVitamin D need to be taken in theright amounts through life to buildbone and slow down bone loss. Eatinga healthy balanced diet, containingadequate calories, can help to improveyour overall bone health not tomention your overall health.

Q What is Osteoporosis?Osteoporosis is a silent disease

that lessens the strength/ thickness ofbones. This makes bones more fragile.Osteoporosis is often not diagnoseduntil a fracture occurs.

Q Is it true that only old womenget Osteoporosis? No. More

women are affected because their bonesare smaller and they also go through themenopause; however 20 per cent of menover 50 get osteoporosis and even chil-dren can be affected.

Q My mum is 84 and has beendiagnosed with Osteoporosis

but the nursing home she is in saythat it is old age and not treatable.Is Osteoporosis treatable? It is treatableand we have had people yourmum’s age improve and reducetheir risk of fractures afterbeing on an Osteoporosistreatment plan. A personis never too young or tooold to be diagnosedand treated.

It is not normal as an adult to break a bone, froma trip and fall from a standing position or less.

Passive Sentence77,,000000 ppeeooppllee ddiiee ffrroomm ssmmookkiinngg rreellaatteedd ddiisseeaassee iinn IIrreellaanndd eevveerryy yyeeaarrIreland became the first country in Europe to impose asmoking ban. Five years on and 27 per cent of the populationare daily smokers. There are certain exceptions to the smok-ing ban, including building-sites, prisons and mental hospitals.Standing in the path of a smoker, or being in a room in whichthere are smokers, exposes one to at least 50 agents known tocause cancer, and other chemicals that increase blood pressure,damage the lungs and cause abnormal kidney function. Bellows-driven instruments, like the accordion, concertina,melodeon and Uilleann pipes, reportedly need less frequentcleaning and maintenance as a result of the Irish smoking ban.

Broccoli is high in vitamins C, K,and A, as well as dietary fibre. You could get 68per cent of your daily requirement of vitamin Cfrom half a cup of raw broccoli. It also has asmuch calcium as milk, important for those withosteoporosis or calcium deficiencies

29is the percentageof Irish adults

that have troublesleeping at night

Mytwo centsOld time radio shows fromthe 1930s-40s had an inno-cence that was chicken soupfor the sleepless. Simple

story lines didn’t challenge apreoccupied mind. Just thir-ty minutes long, it was easyto pick up where you left off,if you did nod off briefly!

From thrillers to romances,there was so much to

choose from. If they didn’tactually cure insomnia, atleast they entertained thesleepless all night long!

Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879 - April 18, 1955) was one of the great geniuses of his time. Earnest claims that he was dyslexic and/or autistic are refuted with equal fervour by those who would claim that he was merely vague and forget-ful, entirely understandable inview of the complex nature of thearcane matters that preoccupiedhim. He was famously eccentricand disorganised, and his lectureswere said to be a jumble ofthoughts, almost random. He wasalso reputed, when no studentsturned up, to deliver his lecture toa totally empty classroom! Odd orwhat? The great man may neverhave learned to tie his shoelacesproperly but his brilliantly incisivetheories have had a major effecton advancing modern science.


travel

T he story goesthat St James the Elder left the Holy Land

to preach in Spain. Onreturning to Jerusalem, he was beheaded by KingHerod Agrippa I. Two ofhis companions took hisbody back to Spain and,

years later, a local her-mit discovered theremains buried in afield; he’d been guidedthere by an arrange-ment of stars – hencethe name, Compostella.

In about 950, Gotescalc,bishop of La Puy en Veleyin France, made a pil-grimage to Santiago, thus

beginning one of the mostimportant Christian pil-grimages in MedievalEurope. Even-tually,routes to the far west ofSpain developed through-out Europe, and mostcities had churches or otherreligious houses with aconnection with SaintJames, from which pil-grims set out – St James’sGate in Dublin, St James’sPalace in London, Tour StJacques in Paris.

As pilgrims from all over Europe, apart fromPortugal, had to first passthrough France, differentstaging points in thatcountry became popular –Paris in the north; Vezelayin the north-east; La Puyin the south-east; Arles inthe south, routes stillwalked today.

There are also a numberof routes through NorthSpain, e.g., the ‘English’route, between the moun-tains and the sea, and the‘French’ route, south of themountains. With its mar-vellous scenery, old townsand friendly people, the‘French’ route is very pop-ular, and during the heightof the summer can beovercrowded. I havewalked it on a number of occasions and enjoyedevery moment, every mile.But if you’re don’t likecrowds, go in April/May or September/ October.

You can start anywhere,but I prefer to follow inBishop Gotescalc’s original

footsteps from La Puy,along the GR (GrandeRandonne) 65. It’s an easyflight into Lyon and thenit’s well sign–posted; thehistory and scenery arespectacular and walkers are better catered for onGR65 than on some of theother routes I have experi-enced, though standardsare improving.

Good preparation isvital. Break in your walkingboots, shoes or sandals, andget comfortable with a back pack. Physically,working out in a gym,cycling or swimming arepoor substitutes for road-work with the backpack.Do at least two long daysback to back – one longday is hard enough butwhen you have to startagain the next day.

For various reasons, fitness levels or time con-straints, many tackle thepilgrimage in sections,over the course of severalyears, resuming, in suc-ceeding years, where youleft off. But if you can atall, it’s great to walk thewhole lot in one go.Either way, the thrill of entering CathedralSquare in Santiago deCompostella is indescrib-able, even for the mostpaganistic ‘pilgrim’.Although most peoplewalk, some cycle or even go on horseback.

Many favour the‘Spanish’ section whichtraditionally begins in St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, in the mountains aboveBayonne. Fly into Biarritzor Paris and take the trainto your starting point.

You will need to join a group that specialises in the walk (see addressesbelow) for your ‘Pilgrim’sPassport’. This bookletgives you access to the traditional pilgrim hostels,the refugios, my personalchoice. More salubriousaccommodation is avail-able but, if you choserefugios, be warned – for their fairly basic, communal sleeping quar-ters, you’ll need a sleepingbag – and ear plugs!

Most people will have heard of El Camino,the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostellain Spain. Many will have walked all, orsome of it. But what is the background?by Breandan O’Scanaill

Fly to SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA (SCQ) from DUBLIN (DUB)

TheWayofSaintJames


in the know

Imagine yourbody as one hugelifelong party inwhich every singleindividual (cell) hasa part to play. Eachtype of cell has adifferent shape andstructure but allcarry an ID ‘badge’

showing that they’re partof you and therefore have a right to be at yourparty. Your White Blood Cells are the bouncersat your party, permanently circulating, check-ing badges, watching for non-you gatecrasherslike viruses or bacteria.

When the bouncers come across an unknownbadge, it takes time to process it but once it hasbeen established that the badge belongs to agatecrasher, the alarm is raised and the searchbegins for other gatecrashers with that non-youID badge. With internal infections, the heat ofthe ensuing battle causes your temperature torise but, if the battle is confined to just a local

area, e.g., a few invaders trying to sneak inthrough a skin-pore (pimples and boils), thenthe temperature rises only in that area; theswelling and redness are because there’s a localincrease in blood supply, to rush reinforcementsof bouncers to the scene. Pus, the corpses ofinvaders and your late, brave bouncers killed in the line of duty, is creamy/white becauseyour bouncers are the White Blood Cells.

Some gatecrashers are really dangerous – theyhide themselves away, or arrive in large num-bers, or multiply very quickly – and, by thetime your bouncers have checked their badges,it may be too late; your party could be spoiledor even over! Vaccines eliminate this periloustime-lag between invasion and response.

In the laboratory, a dangerous germ is eitherkilled or rendered harmless, but its ID badge is left intact. When you’re given this ‘vaccine’,your bouncers can process at leisure. Then, if the real germ turns up, it is recognised atonce; the alarm is raised and all-out battlecommences before the virulent invader caneven get a toehold.

Vaccination, common practice for over a century now, has saved countlesslives. But how do vaccines work?

ForewarnedisForearmed

In 1796, Edward Jenner,observing that people exposed toCowpox (a mild disease of cows)

often remained healthy duringSmallpox outbreaks, infected a youngboy with cowpox and, later, exposedhim to full Smallpox. The lad stayedhealthy, having been ‘vaccinated’with a related but harmless virus.

Not all diseases have harmlessrelatives. In the 19th Century,Frenchman, Louis Pasteur, developed ‘modern’ vaccines forRabies and Anthrax, by severelyweakening the actual organisms

Booster vaccinations are just periodic reminders to your

bouncers, lest they forget

Transplanted organs are challenged because, though a close match, they are non-you.Suppressing this response withdrugs helps prevent rejection, butalso provides an opportunity for

harmful germs to flourish

2,000 years ago people in China andIndia would infect themselves withfluid from ‘mild’ cases of Smallpox.Sometimes the gamble worked;

sometimes it backfired and they died

Not all ‘germs’ are amenableto having vaccines made. The AIDSvirus is a notable exception. So far

Disastrous accidents occurwhen virulent germs are not properly weakened. In Lubeck, in the early20th Century, 251 babies (out of

412) vaccinated against TB, actually developed TB. Of the 251, only one survived beyond a year

Maureenlockedthe doorof hersmall

sub-post-office for thelast time ever and wentthrough the connectingdoor into the warmth of the kitchen.

‘Are you sad?’ askedJoan, looking up from theevening paper.

‘A bit,’ replied Maureen.‘Almost forty years. Whywouldn’t I be?’

‘I know,’ replied her sis-ter. ‘Long time.’ Gettingno response, she re-peat-ed: ‘A long, long time.’Maureen’s two sistersalways felt a little guilty;they’d been able to bolt,but that was the way itwas: as the youngest girl,Maureen automaticallyinherited their parents.Their two brothers, one ateither end of the family,never even gave it a

thought – it had nothingto do with them, notunless there was a goodbusiness or a big farminvolved, and a small sub-post office in the back of a tiny shop was certainlynot reason enough forboy-children to take any-thing but a superficiallydistant interest in the longterm welfare of theirbegetters. The shop parthad long ago been stran-gled out of existence bythe arrival of a supermar-ket twenty-five milesaway, and all but universalcar-ownership and, for thesecond half of her tenureas postmistress, Maureen’sworking day had involvedlittle more than servingthe sporadic customer.

Having missed out onthe excitement of escapeby emigration and theadventure of anonymityin a distant place,Maureen had had to rely

solely on her imaginationto feed her hungry soul.As a schoolgirl, even asher retaining anchor wasalready digging its flukesinto the submerged fab-ric of her village and herchain of post office was

tightening around herdeveloping shapely waist,she’d read avidly and crit-ically, and had quicklyreached the convictionthat, at least in the caseof some of the books, she could do far betterherself. By her nineteenthyear, she was being pub-lished regularly in the

local parish magazine and had even been paid asmall sum by the regionalprovincial press for a seriesof 400-word articles. Shehad crafted each one inexactly 400 words, includ-ing title; no one had

noticed, but it had givenher intense, if private,satisfaction. Her story-lines were based on thesmall personal dramasthat occurred all the time in and around thevillage; without even prying, everyone kneweveryone else’s business,and what was not knownfor sure was surmised,usually correctly.

Her aunt, teacher ofEnglish and ReligiousKnowledge in the Comp-rehensive School in thenearest town, encouragedMaureen. She proof-read,suggested stylistic impro-vements and warned if the veil of disguise drawn

across the latest localscandal was toodiaphanous. The

test was: if AuntChris, omniscient andinfallible on local sto-ries, could identifythe characters or thesituations, then a fur-

ther overlay of obfusca-tion was needed. On her regular week-

end visits, Chris andMaureen would sit uplate into the night andtalk plots, sub-plots,characterization, dialogue,background and all theother technical aspects ofcreating even a very shortstory. But Aunt Chris hadgone to her grave wonder-ing about the plot thatMaureen had excitedlyphoned her about oneWednesday evening, butthen steadfastly refused todiscuss ever afterwards.

She had assumed that theyoung girl had come upwith a raunchy plot andhad been embarrassed totalk to her, put off, per-haps, by the fact that she was a ReligiousKnowledge teacher.

Maureen had been paida pittance by her father,the registered postmaster:it was all going to be hersone day, right? There-fore... Also, of course, itdidn’t suit to pay her toowell, make her independ-ent. So she’d had justenough to clothe herselfsensibly and to take ashort holiday every otheryear. She’d made no pen-sion provisions, eventhough it was an opensecret, and had been fromthe outset, that the placewas to be left to the eldestboy, Seamus, beyond inBoston for years withoutcoming home or writingmore than a few lines atChristmas. When her sis-ters asked her how she was going to live after she retired – worried,Maureen reckoned, incase she might try tomove in with them – shewould tell them not toworry, that she’d live like a queen ‘on the stamps’.

Settling opposite Joan,above a plate with twoclammy furls of pink hamand a tomato cut in half,Maureen began her mod-est evening meal. Joantried to make small talkabout her sister’s fourdecades of service to AnPost but the only thingthat had ever happenedthat had been even vague-ly out of the ordinary wasThe Break In. The backkitchen window had beensmashed; the key to theconnecting post officedoor had been taken fromits usual hook beside thedoor – it had a big labelsaying ‘Post Office’ on it – and the thief, or thieves,had made off with thesmall safe containing amodest amount in cashand bits of Post Officeparaphernalia. The investi-gation that followed,which was making no

26 THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE | SPRING @)!) YOUR FREE COPY

short story

ontheStamps

What kind of business could her quiet sister have

in London? Or indeed anywhere else for that matter,

outside of the village?


headway anyway, waswound down altogetherafter a few days when the money was returnedanonymously – everypenny of it – and the safewas recovered from a near-by drain, open, with onlyMaureen’s fingerprints onit. Two items had neverbeen recovered - the inkpad and the metal stampwith which Maureen can-celled the postage stampson outgoing letters at 3.40every afternoon. Eachmorning she wouldunscrew the round top of the stamp, place the little metal blocks for the appropriate date (inRoman numerals) in theslots provided, screw thetop back on again andthen bang it on a piece ofscrap paper to see that itwas correct. She wouldthen go and open thedoor for the day’s busi-ness. Following The BreakIn, the authorities hadreplaced the stamp, butonly temporarily, becausethe Post Office was goingover to automatic frankingin a matter of weeks.

‘I’m going away for a few days on Monday.’Maureen said.

‘Oh? Where?’‘London. I’ll be back

by Wednesday evening.’‘On your own?’‘It’s only a few days.

It’s great to be free. No post office.’

‘Any particular reason?’‘Business.’‘Business!’ Now what

kind of business could herquiet sister have in Lon-don? Or indeed anywhereelse for that matter, out-side of the village? ‘Whatsort of business?’

‘Just business.’‘Is there anything wrong?’‘Not a thing. Far from

it. Here. Have another cup. Then I’ve a few thingsto do.’

Before she caught theeleven o’clock bus onMonday morning,Maureen visited AuntChris’ grave. She pulled a few impertinent weeds,then straightened. ‘Do youremember that great story,

Chris, that I was going towrite? Well, I decided to doit for real rather than justwrite about it.’

At 10.30 on Tuesdaymorning, dressed in asmart business suit, hersteel-grey hair freshlycoiffed, Margaret pushedthrough the glass door of Jason Purvis, Dealer in Stamps and Coins. She had rung ahead andwas expected. In MrPurvis’ opulent office, she placed two matchingalligator-skin briefcases on the walnut desk and,expertly spinning theircombination wheels,popped them open andturned them towards thetall, suave dealer.

‘Fabulous,’ he breathed,reverently removing hand-ful after handful of protec-tive clear plastic envelopes,each displaying four whiteenvelopes, devoid of nameor address, but withstamps affixed carefullyand precisely in its topright hand corner. ‘Firstday issues of every Irishstamp issued in the past fortyyears... And... each one?’ Heraised an urbane eyebrow.

‘Yes. Each and every one.I realise you’ll have to havethem checked, of course, butI guarantee it – each one isclearly postmarked with adate which is one day beforeits date of issue. Which, ofcourse, makes them anabsolutely unique set. Aone-off, never to be repeat-ed set. The later ones aredoubly unique, of course,inasmuch as, by the timethose particular stampswere issued, Ireland hadalready gone over to frank-ing machines. So they arethe only Irish stamps ofthat era that have beencancelled using the old,round, black-inked, metal stamp.’

That afternoon,Maureen moved to a five star hotel near Marble Arch, and, later,over a leisurely dinner inher suite, began to Googledesirable bijou propertieson the Mediterraneancoast of France.(1,400 words by Rory McCormac)

competition

A luxury Spa Breakin Johnstown House, Enfield

A City Break in The Marriott Courtyard, Galway

An Away From It All Breakin The Station House Hotel, Clifden, Co Galway

Southern Breakat The Holiday Inn, KillarneyFor your chance to win, just tell us: The Station House Hotel, Clifden, was once: a) A Radio Station? b) A Police Station? c) A RailwayStation?

To enter, call our hotline on 1513 415 049 ortext TWR2 followed by your answer, name,address to 53307Terms and conditions: 18+. €0.60 per entry incl VAT. Calls from mobile cost more.Network charges vary on SMS. Lines close midnight 20 April 2010. Entries made after the close date do not count and you may be charged. SP Phonovation Ltd. POBox 6, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin. Helpline 0818217100. By entering this competition you may be contacted in the future regarding other promotions.

Four fantastic luxury hotels got together tooffer you one of four breaks-away worth €500Four lucky winners can choose from four fabulous destinations across Ireland

Fantastic Four

PRIZES WORTH €2000

Knock, Knock!Who’s There?Sasha!

SashaWho?Sasha fuss just because I knocked onyour door!

28

kidz-bitz.,

2 letters 3 letters 4 letters 5 letters

The earliest recorded formula for soap was written on a Babylonian clay tablet around 2200 BC.

Whatweighs

5,000lbs and

wears glass

slippers? Cinder-elepahnt

Why did thetomato blush? Because he saw the salad dressing

THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE | SPRING 2010 YOUR FREE COPY

My Little Farm (12 mths)Includes a farm house with five ani-mals, a figure, fencing, bales, a trac-tor, and a trailer and features sounds.

V.Smile TVLearningSystem(3yrs+)Awardwinningeduca-tional consoledesigned for pre-schoolers. Cool graphicsand popular pre-schoolcharacters teach age-appropriate curriculum with writing capability, a microphone for optionalsing-along game play.

toybox: electronic learningtop teaching toys for every age

LeapFrog TagReading System (4-8yrs)Fun stories and activities introducereading and word building, phonic skills and more. Needs internet.

Vtech Touch TabletBlack (7yrs+) This sleek, ultraslim, all-in-one notebook computerhas a detachable touch-sensitivescreen that engages older learnerswith more than 125 educational activ-

ities in English,maths, French,science andgeography.

drawyour favourite food on this plate

Homemade soaps makegreat gifts. They can be dif-ferent colours, scents, shapes,and fun to decorate, too.

YOU WILL NEED: Glycerinesoap; cheese grater; plastic jug;food colouring; a spoon; essen-tial oils and soap moulds orice-cube tray

1 Use the grater to shred the soapand put the pieces in the jug. Askan adult to heat in a microwave forabout 1 min. 2 Carefully, removethe jug and stir in a few drops offood colouring into the meltedsoap. 3 Add a few drops of essen-tial oil. Try lavender or orange. 4 Stirthe misture together, then pour intomoulds. Remove from the mouldswhen it is set in about 1 hour.TIPS: Try adding glitter to yoursoap mixture or pour a little ofone colour into a mould, leaveit to dry before adding a differ-ent coloured layer, then anothercolour on top of that!

SPRINGCLEAN

How many little words

can you make out of

chocolates

Thank you Ciara Mohan, Co Galway for sending us your soap recipe!

Fill in the grid so that eachrow, column and 3x3 squarecontain all the digits from 1 to 9

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braintrain

ACROSS1 Taking slim size in a shoe inHolland, it’s worn by all, except,of course, naturists. (8)5 Get one’s balance as oneclimbs. (6)9 When one keeps an eyeon developments, it canmake a comeback in thebogs. (8)10 Wager that the stupidbeast in it is just a low-down hound-dog! (6)12 Do the guards getinvolved in such girlyissues? (9)13 Detecting a bad feelingamongst BavarianGermans? (5)14 Using modelling clay to produce fancy trim for 1 Across. (4)16 States that that’s just the way it is at exams. (7)19 Is this crazy mad icon a character of homelesssociety? (7)21 It’s only right whensecret agent is about to look lively and fit. (4) 24 It’s odd – object to boxerwith only half a score. (5)25 On track for 1,000 instreet talk, Public Relationsin small talk, and nine inRome. (5,4)27 And so, it’s back to thequarry for the flighty sort. (6)28 Involved epic found inexplosive article on festivefare? (5,3)29 Damaged war axeburied deep in the skull nat-urally causes no harm (3-3)30 Mattress cut up bygroup of socialites? (5,3)

DOWN1 Funny how it will arrivebefore the beginning andend of the day. (6)2 Snwo comes clean. (4,2)3 Get the chicks outthrough a small opening. (5)4 Tend to get on short linefor the little ones. (7)6 One in dramatic circum-stances playing rare catchartfully. (9)7 How apt! Glass shatteringprovides the ultimateexpression of surprise andexcitement at the end. (4,4)8 Having taken the seat, I getto my feet - just to mock in aliterary manner. (8)11 Is moving up in themotoring organisation in the east? (4)15 Confuse dead Romanwith heavenly body of Greekprincess of mythology. (9)17 Played crooked ace to end story. (7)18 Make an unseemly claimto be correct. (8)20 Claret begins to maturein bars. (4)21 Would it suit mad, crazyplayers to perform in one? (7)22 If the doctor copies this,well, then it’s curtains. (6)23 But is it the correctanswer? (6)26 In the style of last monthor some such? (5)

YOUR DETAILSName:

Address:

Number:

Email:

THE FIRST NAME DRAWN TOCORRECTLY COMPLETE THECROSSWORD WILL WIN €100!Send your entry to THE WAITING ROOM CROSSWORD,Northampton, Kinvara, Co Galway by 20 April 2010.

CrosswordTheWaitingRoom

29 12 30

12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12

27 12 28

12 12 12 12 12 12 12

24 12 25 26

12 12 12 12 12 12 12 22 12 23

19 20 12 21 12 12 12

17 12 18 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12

12 12 12 14 15 12 16

12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12

12 12 13

12 12 12 12 11 12 12 12

9 12 10

12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12

1 2 3 4 12 5 6 7 8

S A P P H I R E S S D S C S A

R S R S T S S N A T U R I S TE Y E I N G S A S T S E S I SP S T S A S F I E N D S S G SE T H I C S S D S N S O S G SE S G S I S S N S O I L C A NW O U N D S K I S S S C S H SS S A S N S E S K S R S A S SS A L L E G E S S Q U A R E SS S S S M S R S I S O S T S TS E S L S A G E D S N E A R SS I M I A N S S S S O S P S IS T S C S A S P S T H R O N ES N S N O U G A T S S S E S HS U S E S G S L S V I O L E T

NO TIME TO FINISH? NO WORRIES! THIS MAGAZINE IS YOURS TO TAKE HOME!

Quick QuizHow brainy are you?

Question 1Which is the odd one out?a. Cowb. Sheepc. Pig

Question 2South Pacific star, MaryMartin, was mother of:a. Peter Lorreb. Dean Martinc. Larry Hagman

Question 3Who is Warren Beatty’s sister?a. Faye Dunawayb. Shirley McLainec. Katherine Hepburn

Question 4Which is not a capital city?a. Lagosb. Pretoriac. Canberra

Question 5Bill Clinton was governorof which state?a. Georgiab. Arkansasc. Missouri

Question 6Which is the odd one out?a. Condorb. Kiwic. Penguin

Question 7What was Mark Twain’s real name?a. Thomas H. Finnb. Samuel Clemensc. Mark Twain

Question 8What is measured by an anenometer?a. Movements of the earth’s crust

b. Wind speedc. Cloud density

Question 9What organ is your pan-creas closely attached?a. Stomachb. Liverc. Spleen

Question 10Which country’s nationalairline is called Varig?a. Venezuelab. Columbiac. Brazil

You are:1-2: A pea brain3-5: Suffering brain drain6-7: A bulging brain box

CCoonnggrraattuullaattiioonnssBBrriiaann MMccNNaammaarraa,, LLaabbaasshheeeeddaa,,CCoo CCllaarree wwiinnnneerr ooff tthhee TTWWRRWWiinntteerr CCrroosssswwoorrdd

SSoolluuttiioonn ttoo tthhee WWiinntteerr CCrroosssswwoorrdd

Abbeyglen Hotel Winners are Margo Fox, Inchicore, Dublin 8;Trish Lavelle, Cork; Mairead Rafter, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford andAnn Harrington, Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare

Dyson DC23 Pink Winners are Patricia Mac Laughlin, Sligo; Michelle Hogan, Birr, Co Offaly and Michael Carroll, Waterford

Answ

ers:

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interview

Ever spent a night in hospi-tal? Years ago, after a shooting acci-dent. The hunger got to me more thananything, or 'fasting' as they call it,and then no operation after all. Not tomention being woken up to give me asleeping tablet. Try that for logic!

Do you worry about yourhealth? Only when I get a bill in the post!

What exercise do you take?Digging, briar-cutting, and the oddlong walk with the dogs.

How much sleep do youneed? At least 8 hours or I am not much company for myself!

How do you relax? Cooking nice meals, then pop the drop of wine and have dinner with the onethat I love. It can’t get better than that in my view.

What's your attitude to smoking? The odd one is grand, but all day every day? I don't think so. And when I did smoke or comefrom a smoky environment, I wasalways tempted to burn all my clothes the next morning!

What's your attitude todrugs? Grass should be legalised. It is in certain parts of the world, and can be particularly medicinal. What can be wrong with somethingthat just makes people get a fit of thegiggles, and do no harm to anyone?Alcohol is legal, and look at thedamage that does!

How much do you drink? I like my drop of wine with the dinner. I'll put it that way, not tomention the odd Vase of stout in the Abbeyglen!

What would you like to give up? My mild hunger for wanting more.

Best advice from your mother? Keep practising

How do you feel about cos-metic surgery? I am all for it; I wouldn’t mind a bit of a going-overmyself, only it’s too expensive and I am not that vain in the first place. Am I contradicting myself now?

How do you feel about organdonation? Total agreement. Havingsaid that, I need to get a donor card andcarry it, just like everyone else should.

When, if ever, do you thinkit's okay to use a lie? To pro-tect my children from hurt or pain of any kind.

Apart from trad, what otherstyles do you like? I'm partial to classical, Chopin particularly – andRock and Roll. Meeting The RollingStones changed my life completely andnow, Ronnie Wood is my special gueston the new De Dannan album.

Personal ambition? To bring my band, DeDannan, to great heightslike never before, as theline up now is a phe-nomenal combina-tion. Excludingmyself, they havegreat talents andthey are allfierce good-looking!!!

FitasaFiddle:

FrankieGavinMusician and founder of DeDannan, 53

DeDannan’s 2010 Tour dates are available on www.dedannan.com

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