It's very easy to over-simplify and say that eating watermelon will give you.. ahem.. a boost in the bedroom. But, it's not that simple. Let's start with a link that will break it down for you.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080630165707.htm

This blog-style entry cracked me up.. poor guy can't eat a whole watermelon-- but dang it he's trying: http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,2288681,00.html

Here's a McGorge Scott lightening pic.

This lightening got me out of bed at 2:30am to soothe a stressed out senior citizen mutt who no longer tolerates storms (or fireworks) like he used to.

Email sstricklen@kgw.com

That's alright. NBC gave us a couple of options for last minute visa applications and I should have my packet out Monday. Cross your fingers. :-)

PS. Really liked this Olympics related story on the wires today:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=ayHeBiwhJX_M&refer=asia

C U tomorrow..
sstricklen@kgw.com

Anyway, I leave July 31st for about 6 weeks. WOW!!

Right now, I'm making calls.. trying to line up stories, find local folks/businesses/students who are going over there.. contacting athletes.. setting up shoots-- all the good stuff.

So, that's where I've been and why the blog isn't updated as often as it should be.

Hey.. lookit who got himself a new-fangled blue tooth headset thingie. :-)

It's Rich K... who is coordinating our Beijing coverage on this end. I probably shouldn't tease him or else I'll be working 20 hour days.

sstricklen@kgw.com

I'm still smiling. :-D

sstricklen@kgw.com

Here is that link that helps clarify exactly how much sun we should all get...
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/living-well-usn/2008/06/23/time-in-the-sun-how-much-is-needed-for-vitamin-d.html

Hey.. here is a fast link for you on that heel scan story:
http://www.irishhealth.com/?level=4&id=13802

Here's a hint about my vacation:

This is not Europe.. even if this church reminds me of ones I saw in France. More to come!!
sstricklen@kgw.com

Yeah, that's one of our engineers Dave bending down to fix a printer after he just got done crawling under the newsdesk WHILE WE WERE ANCHORING!! There's no two ways about it... we must have a working printer and a working computer on the desk at that hour because so much changes at that time in the morning. I mean, it's not uncommon for the entire a-block (the first part of the newscast before the commercial) to get completely reshuffled while we're in the show (because of many reasons.. maybe neither of our live trucks can get a signal up in time.. or maybe we are forced to use a backup weather option because there are issues there.. or some video didn't get cut because there wasn't enough time). That 4:30 show is unique simply because of the time it starts.

So, Dave got caught on live TV trying to make sure we had our tools in proper working order. Thanks, Dave! And now you know that when you watch at 4:30 it's possible someone is crawling around under the anchor desk trying to make sure we're ready to go.

:-)

Ps. To the sweet older woman who keeps calling and not leaving her name (or anyone who might know who she is)... I will not be going back to my old librarian hairstyle (the pinned up one). Respectfully I must tell you that I don't care if it's "more sensible" and more "old-fashioned" and you preferred it. For now, I like this style. And in two years I will probably like something dramatically different. And two years after that.. same thing. That's how I roll. Which I know is neither a sensible, nor old-fashioned way of putting it. But, true. Very true.

See you next week!!!
sstricklen@kgw.com

Let me link you to more on that story about middle class Americans taking the brunt of the current explosion in the numbers of the under-insured.
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2008/06/10/25-million-americans-are-underinsured.html

That's not to say it isn't a problem for folks who make less money than that-- it's just where the Commonwealth folks noticed the growth.

And for parents who might be looking for more on that teeth grinding story-- let me send you here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080610072101.htm

Alrighty then.. so.. tell me what is wrong with this picture? It's from this morning's 4:30am newscast..

sstricklen@kgw.com

So, at noon and at 5 the "lush lashes" story was on deck. That's the one where folks on the glaucoma eyedrops noticed all of sudden they had movie star lashes; thick, dark, long (only minus all that glue and obvious fakeness that comes with most false eyelashes).

I talked about the race to bring a cosmetic product to market and the lawsuits in the race to be number one. Here's more on that:
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=82949

I really liked this write-up on 'celebrity sickness' and the Kylie Minogue breast cancer screening effect:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=ajw4yJTzzK1w&refer=australia

Here's the State Of Oregon page on flouride in water:
http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/oralhealth/care/fluoride.shtml
This link was prompted by Haggen stores now offering free prenatal vitamins and flouride tablets if you have a prescription.

And finally.. look who came for a visit this morning:

That's Max sitting in Kate's lap. She's our 4:30am producer. Max turned up in the halls.. I dunno.. about 5:30 this morning or so. He is the cutest little guy. None of us in the newsroom could get enough of his friendly, happy antics. He totally kept us entertained. But where exactly did he come from?

I called the KINK studio (which is upstairs in this building) and asked them, "Um, any of you misssing a white dog?"

Sure enough.. that's Sheila Hamilton's little guy. She's tall, slender, and blond.. just like Kate-- so maybe that's why Max took to Kate so quickly. It was pretty cute. He kept pawing at her to get her to play.

PS. Sheila had him here because he was off to the groomer's after her shift ended. I told her to let us babysit anytime.

sstricklen@kgw.com

So, here is the link to the company that developed and is testing that brain cancer vaccine: http://celldextherapeutics.com/wt/page/trials_cancer

It's interesting that the study results I reported on came from Duke specifically-- where Ted Kennedy got treatment. I found this on Bloomberg which broadens the issue a bit:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=aG.HN3aJfliw&refer=home

And on the subject of smart clothes.. the idea isn't new, but the applications are getting more sophisticated. I mean, a heart monitor?? Decibel-detecting fabrics?? Sweet. This link is more than a year old-- but still pretty cool ((and it includes a few nods to Beaverton based Nike)).
http://www.forbes.com/2007/03/19/hightech-function-clothing-forbeslife-cx_hp_0320smartclothes.html

Another cool McGorge Scott photo! I got an email from a gal who lives in a woodland wonderland kind of place, too, and really likes to see them!!

sstricklen@kgw.com

But (and I've said this before).. most of us have skewed ideas of what makes up one drink.. be it beer or a mixed drink or wine. I mean, most of my wineglasses at home are pretty big. I once measured out of curiosity and the glasses comfortably hold 12 ounces-- when a typical serving is 5 ounces. So, one "Steph" glass is more than 2 servings of alcohol. That's just not gonna work!! I now use this little tiny glass I have from a wine tasting trip.. and it looks really small by comparison, but sticks to the proper serving size.

I found an insiders blog talking about this very issue of serving size here:
http://www.winespiritsdaily.com/2007/08/snapshot-of-what-serving-panel-means-to.html

((Light bedtime reading, anyone? I made it to page 4 and them zoomed to the conclusion pages. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CXH/is_1_23/ai_57050104))

Heaven forbid McGorge Scott take a vacation or go to a track meet ((both things he does)) because email me looking for his photos!!

He's back and sent along these two gems of his favorite big buck. What a difference a few weeks make in those antlers!!

sstricklen@kgw.com

Here's the story that's making some waves today on the medical front. I wanted to share it with you in case you hadn't heard.

We're talking about placebo pills-- and if it's ethically responsible to use them to treat a fake illness ((I can almost hear blog reader Sean emailing as we speak-- this story is right up his expertise alley!)).

Now, you know I love my NPR so here is a link to the report it did:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90864884

And here is a link to the NY Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/health/27plac.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin

The entrepeneur mom who came up with the idea.. and her husband.. were on the Today show. The general consensus in the newsroom was that they had a hard time defending the use of the sugar pills.

What do you think about all this?

Email me by clicking here.

Hey, speaking of Sean.. he had these comments about that prescription drug book author I included recently.. the gal who felt big pharmaceuticals were causing so much societal harm...

I've been involved in drug trials as a patient (three different medications). There is a lot of testing done and after all of the testing is complete, the results are sent to the FDA and if the review board determines that the medication doesn't work, the risks outweigh the benefits, or there's not enough evidence one way or the other, then approval is denied. And even then, it doesn't mean that problems won't appear later. I was on a drug trial that had promise, however after the drug received approval, cases of the life threatening condition, aplastic anemia started appearing in some patients. Since then the drug has received a "black box warning" and is rarely used.

The key isn't to believe everything the drug companies or someone who's biased against them tells you. Instead people should be doing their own homework by reading drug reference books and besides asking their doctor, also ask pharmacist (ask pharmacists at different pharmacies to see if you get the same information). And ask a pharmacist for a "package insert". It's information about the drug that comes with each bottle of that the pharmacy receives. Much of the information is written in medical language so you'll probably need to ask a doctor or pharmacist to explain what it means. Basically, people just need to use some common sense.

And McGorge Scott saw something on his property he has never seen before... elk! He always gets the deer, but for some reason the elk found their way onto his property.

See you tomorrow!

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/05162008/watch2.html

sstricklen@kgw.com

But because we have so much Decision 2008 ground to cover, I'm not working on health stuff today. So, let me take a quick moment to share a few emails with you.

About the Stretching Your Dollar segment we've been running during the morning show.. Mike writes:

The heart of the matter comes from our collective American mentality of "keeping up with the Joneses," and now it has caught up with those who played that game. If it's shiny and new, get it! If my neighbor want one, get it, before he does! Charge it! It goes on and on.

Those of us that are, and have been secure in our choices (self confidence), we have not been greatly affected by higher gas prices, etc...

We have used rabbit ears for TV reception since 1993. It's just nuts to pay $50-$100/month for cable/satellite ($600- $1200 a year!!! in 10 years, that moeny could have gone into savings!) We have not chosen gas-hog type vehicles. We don't participate in conspicous consumption, or buying every freakin new gadget, or $250 jeans, or Venti sized coffee everyday, get manicures every week, or beauty or massage salon trips every week. We pre-cyle, recycle, reuse.

We don't miss out on the many good things life has to offer. We take vacations, we eat good healthy foods, we have 2 of our 3 children in college. and we keep a nice and comfortable home. We also make contributions to charities every year.

People just need to say, "No," sometimes, resist advertisers allure, not be selfish, etc...

My wife gets 54 miles per gallon in her 2006 Prius. I drive a 2005 GMC Canyon (4 cylinder mini truck), the kids share a 2003 Kia van and 1988 Volvo 240 DL (4 cylinder with 248,000 miles on it!)

Our family is not just different, we are making a difference too. It's not hard to do.

Can I just say that I hope my car sticks with me for 248,000 miles!!! It's SO nice not having a car payment. Mike-- thanks for the email!! I promise, I'll try to wean myself off the coffee ((and I'm mostly a decaf girl.. I just crave the taste!)).

Laural has this tip for falling asleep/relaxing: My formula for getting to sleep: Work puzzles until the brain gets tired. Logic puzzles, sudoku and its variants. At half an hour before bedtime, I can generally get through about 1 or 2 sudoku grids and my eyes get heavy while my mind starts fading off. Turn off light, and happy dreaming.

(One nice thing about sudoku is that the last thing in your mind is numbers, not usually something to generate nightmares or really strange dreams).

Now, this may not work for everyone. It may be too stimulating. But it's working great for her and so I wanted to pass it along in case you find it helps you!

Shawn writes: It usually takes me about 45 minutes to fall asleep and I tend to wake up after about 2 to 3 hours if i'm lucky. Then it takes me awhile to fall back asleep.
I've come to think that its conditioning. I am a former Marine and sleep in the field never came easy.
Though I served during Dessert Shield some 20 years ago when this war started, some of that training never leaves.
I'm I missing something here, believe me you I would love to sleep a whole night through. Instead I go days where I get broken sleep all night. After about 4+ days later I finally sleep a good 6 to 7hours sleep.

Shawn says he does not have sleep apnea, doesn't snore, or have other medically related sleep issues. And if his situation sounds familiar (in terms of the whole waking up bit)-- I mentioned this in the story and I think it's a smart next step: get to your health care provider and ask about Cognitive Behavoral Therapy. A sleep doctor will know all about this. And while the ideas of visualizations, and counting may not seem like the kind of thing you'd go see a doctor for, or maybe they're too "out there"... studies show if you do it right it can work better and faster than sleeping pills. What do you have to lose??

Have a great Wednesday!!
OHH.. wait. Here's a pic of two little ones who leave me THE cutest voicemails EVER (with mom's clever coaching in the background). If only I could post the voicemails on this blog. This is Tristan and Kiernan and I count their mom Kris as one of my dearest friends-- you know, the kind of friend you know you'll have for life.

sstricklen@kgw.com

But you know, almost all of my longer-format stories get posted to the web, so you can always check them out the following day if you're so inclined.

The last time I did a sleep story I got these awesome tips from people who emailed me:

~Make bedtime a ritual and your mind will get used to feeling sleepy if the routine is always the same and happens at the same time.

~Try herbal tea.. the warmth helps you feel sleepy.

~Also, try warm milk.. which may have a foundation in science... the Mayo Clinic offers this link on foods to promote sleep:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/foods-that-help-you-sleep/AN01582

SHARE YOUR TIPS BY CLICKING HERE TO EMAIL ME...

Here is a brief primer on sleep apnea:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/SleepApnea/SleepApnea_WhatIs.html

And a link to a national advocasy foundation: http://www.sleepapnea.org/

And finally.. let's talk about our modern diet. Dr. Root mentioned that one of the working theories is that our diet is soft. Yup. Soft. Back in the day we used to eat foods that were a lot more chewy or just plain hard. Harder foods cause your teeth to angle putting an outward pressure on the bones around the roof of your mouth. Basically, your teeth angle inwards-- sort of stretching the roof of your mouth-- which leads to bigger sinuses and better breathing.

Our modern diet means potentially smaller sinuses. I thought that was pretty facinating.

Here is a quick pic from a family friend Jodie.. she's been trying for this shot and finally got her son Jack in his best I'm-about-to-cause-some-trouble-but-I'm-OHH-SO-CUTE pose.

Adorable!!! Happy Monday...

This is an article out of Seattle:
Seattle Times article

This is a scientific paper that outlines some of the BC infections I mentioned in my story:
CDC info

Medscape info: Medscape

And that's all she wrote!! I must scoot. Enjoy the sun!!
sstricklen@kgw.com