Preventing Cancer: Does This New Report Make a Difference?

I'm sometimes easily swayed by health studies; a few years ago I completely cut out soda after reading a pretty convincing article about how terrible it was for our bodies. Meanwhile, of course we know that exercise and diet is important... and I try to jog when I can... but per the LA Times, it's now even more conclusive that we need to eat/drink less and exercise more to help precent cancer:

Roughly half of cancer deaths in the United States could be prevented or forestalled if all Americans quit smoking, cut back on drinking, maintained a healthful weight and got at least 150 minutes of exercise each week, according to a new report.

These same measures would also reduce the number of new cancer diagnoses by 40% to 70%. For men, universal embrace of this lifestyle could avert or delay 67% of cancer deaths and prevent 63% of new malignancies each year, researchers calculated. If all of the nation’s women did the same, their yearly cancer mortality rates would fall by 59% and new cancers would drop 41%.

Will this be enough to convince me to *really* start watching my diet and cutting back on all those glasses of wine? How about you?

A Warm Sunday Afternoon on the L.A. River Bike Path

The weather was perfect for a bike ride on Sunday, and the Franklin Avenue foursome took an epic three-hour tour through Atwater Village, down the L.A. River bike path, past the crowded L.A. zoo (jam-packed with cars anxious to see the new reptile pavilion), all the way to near the Glendale/Burbank border, and then back into town via San Fernando Blvd. My legs are still sore.


On the bicycle bridge above Los Feliz Blvd.


KABC/Channel 7, at the 134/5 interchange, off the L.A. river.


DreamWorks Animation's Glendale HQ, on the river.

Santa Monica Cracks Down on Outdoor Exercisers

(Flickr pic by btmeacham.)

A few years ago, Maria and I used to travel to Santa Monica to climb up and down the famed Santa Monica steps. (We usually preferred the Franklin Hills steps closer to our home... but you can't beat those ocean breezes.)

But with so many people turning the neighborhood surrounding the steps into their personal gyms, the nearby residents have had enough. Writes the L.A. Times:

In response to homeowners' complaints, Santa Monica police two months ago started warning those who exercised on the medians that they were violating a 1970 city ordinance. Residents had griped that the affluent neighborhood had been overrun by groups of people who sometimes showed up with exercise benches, balls and boom boxes -- creating a sort of outdoor Gold's Gym.

"The median has turned into a de facto park," said Jim Sweeney, an area resident who along with neighbors complained to City Hall about 18 months ago.

The story notes, though, that the exercise buffs aren't letting go without a fight.

Take A Walk on the Franklin Hills Side

(Pic by the Militant Angeleno.)

Several years ago, back when we lived on Franklin Avenue, Maria and I used to frequent the steps of Franklin Hills -- specifically, Radio Walk and Prospect Walk.

The Militant Angeleno recently found this map of the Franklin Hills staircases, and checked them out for himself:

Some of these 1920s-era steps get very little use in the early 21st century, as some of them were covered in fallen leaves and cast-off tree bark. And those that do use them probably only use them to walk their dogs, as random dog droppings can be found on the steps. But looking back, the Militant treated himself to an awe-inspiring view of the hils of western Silver Lake, accented by the sight of the moon and the swirling reddish-colored stratus clouds of the dusk hour.

The Militant deems the Franklin Hills another "hidden gem" of L.A. -- and notes the "cute ladies" walking their dogs around the 'hood.

24-Hour Fitness Gets On the Wrong Side of B-Side

Ben -- better known as B-Side, one of the founders of TVgasm, recently blogged about his run-in with the folks at his gym -- or shall I say, former gym -- 24 Hour Fitness.

It's an epic tale that begins:

For years now, I've been splitting my time between two or three different 24 Hour Fitness gyms, and as such, I've had to pay an additional $5 per month to grant me access to all the clubs at my membership level. This means that every month, I'm supposed to get billed a certain amount for my membership and then the added fee for the all-club upgrade. Pretty standard stuff.

Well, late last week, I moseyed into the gym, and after having my ID scanned in, I proceeded forward to the gym floor.

"Wait!" called out the guy at the front desk. "You're only One-Club."

That was strange. I'd been All-Club for years and years. Why would I suddenly be downgraded to a lesser status? Clearly there had been a mistake.

"Clearly, there's been a mistake," I said. The guy looked back at his computer monitor, which had now been taken over by a big red screen to warn him of my alleged delinquency, and told me that no, I was not eligible to work out at this club.

From there, B-Side gets caught up in a tangled web of 24 Hour Fitness rules and misguided customer service. Needless to say, he's moved on. Read about it here.

Yoga Deficiency

I figured it would at least be a few more years before the Kid Formerly Known as Blogger Toddler mastered a skill before me.

But there I was this weekend, learning Yoga moves from a three-year-old. They're teaching Yoga at his pre-school, and he's already mastered downward dog and a few other moves. Me? Have never done Yoga. Never gone to a class, never tried it. And when I did... well, let's say my body isn't quite as flexible as it was when I was 3.

Then again, we're convinced the KFKABT thinks he's twice as old as he actually is. A few weeks ago at a festival, he started taling to a girl who was at least 8. We were distracted by something else, and missed part of their coversation.

Later, the girl asked Maria: "How old is he?"

Maria: "He's three."

Girl: "He told me he was seven!"

That's my boy.

The Staircases of Los Angeles

(Flickr pic by Cory.)

Five years ago we talked up Los Feliz's Radio Walk and Prospect Walk staircases in the Franklin Hills. Back when Franklin Avenue actually lived on Franklin Avenue, we used to hike those steps all the time for exercise.

The L.A. Times this week reminded us that there are staircases all over the city -- and they're popular among hikers and exercise fiends. The paper writes:

The "Music Box" staircase, which shoots straight up from Vendome Street to Descanso Drive, is one of 52 stairways in 46-year-old writer Dan Koeppel's personal 16.2-mile stair hike -- comprising 4,182 steps, with a 7,445-foot elevation gain.

The walk hopscotches up and down a matrix of city-owned steps around Silver Lake and Echo Park, just north of downtown Los Angeles, and offers up dazzling overlooks of East Los Angeles, Griffith Park Observatory, the Hollywood sign, the Silver Lake Reservoir and downtown Los Angeles. The overall effect is a little like taking a local historical garden tour while going full throttle on a StairMaster.

Bob Herzog, co-chairman of the Silver Lake History Collective, notes that the steps around the older parts of the city were built mostly in the mid 1920s, and led down to Red Car transit points. The Red Cars are long gone, of course, but the stairs remain.