Sunday, January 29, 2006

Chocolate may reveal your bedroom secrets


Turin - Your choice of chocolate can reveal much about your personality, including your preferences in bed, psychologists argue.

According to Murray Langham, a New Zealand psychotherapist and author of the book Chocolate Therapy: Dare To Discover Your Inner Self, the choice of a chocolate's shape and filling, as well as how its wrapping is disposed of, reveals much about people's personality traits and moods.

Milk chocolate lovers, for example, tend to be innocent people who like to live in the past. Fans of dark chocolate, on the other hand, are materialistic, problem solvers who are excited by the future. White chocolate aficionados have an innate sense of fairness and believe they have the power of the universe at their command.

Langham says he had his idea after noticing that many of his patients enjoyed a close relationship with chocolate.

"I started asking my clients what sort of chocolates they like to eat," he once told the British daily The Express, "and I began to notice that people chose similar confectionery according to their personality".

Langham says he found that by observing his patients' chocolate habits he could discover more about their personalities than by just asking the patients straightforward questions about themselves, as psychologists tend to do in regular therapy.

Langham, who says his best-selling book has attracted widespread interest among American psychotherapists, says the choice of filling and shape also reveals much about one's personality and state of mind.

Oval-shaped lovers, for instance, are social and sensual. Those who prefer a coffee filling are open-minded, but also impatient, anxious and immature.

A perhaps more controversial aspect of "chocolate therapy" also holds that the way a chocolate's wrapper is disposed of brings out people's attitudes about sex.

Those who crinkle the wrapping before throwing it away tend to have too many thoughts on their mind and are unable to concentrate in bed. People who roll it into a ball, on the other hand, are having a boring sex life.

The implications of "chocolate therapy" are being discussed at "CioccolaTo", a trade fair taking place in the Italian capital of chocolate, Turin, until March 14. - Sapa-dpa

Dark chocolate may fight off heart attacks

By LEE BOWMAN,
Scripps Howard News Service








BOSTON (February 17, 2002 9:04 a.m. EST) - There's more evidence that cocoa rich in cholesterol-battling antioxidants helps ward off some of the factors associated with heart attacks and stroke, scientists lecturing here Friday during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science said.

The antioxidants in chocolate are called flavonoids, potent plant compounds also found in tea, red wine and some fruits and vegetables. Studies show that flavonoids slow the processing of "bad" LDL cholesterol into material that clogs the arteries, and at the same time make blood platelets less likely to clump and cause clots.

"What we're finding, though, is that all flavenoids are not created equal. There are some foods that are richer in them, and seem to be more biologically active, and cocoa is right up there," said Carl Keen, chairman of the nutrition department at the University of California-Davis.

Keen compared the reactions of platelets to a flavanol-rich cocoa drink and a blood-thinning, 81-milligram dose of aspirin, and found similar reactions in a group of 20- to 40-year-olds.

"What we don't know is just what the dose-effect of this might be over a longer period of time," Keen said. "We have some research that shows eating foods high in flavanols is good for the arteries, but we don't yet know what the minimum amount is you can consume to have the effect you want, or what happens if you consume at these levels for weeks or months."

Another chocolate researcher, Dr. Norman Hollenberg of Brigham and Women's Hospital here, reported findings that flavanols may be associated with controlling another chemical that regulates the arteries, nitric oxide.

The compound is critical for healthy blood flow and pressure, Hollenberg said. "If our research results continue to support a link between consumption of flavanol-rich cocoa and nitric oxide

synthesis, there could be significant implications for public health." Both Keen and Hollenberg used a special experimental cocoa supplied by the Mars candy company that is not yet available to the public.

Dark chocolate, which is typically a bit more expensive and not quite as sweet, is richest in flavonoids because of the way it's processed. Milk chocolate, which also has added butterfat, contains fewer flavonoids, while cocoa powder and chocolate syrups are currently processed with a method that removes most of the flavonoids.

As far as the fat in dark chocolate goes, it's mostly a saturated vegetable fat that behaves in an artery-friendly way, like olive and canola oils. Hollenberg began studying the effects of cocoa as part of a high blood pressure study on members of the Kuna tribe of Panama. He noted that members of the tribe who lived on the isolated islands almost never developed hypertension as they aged, while those who moved to urban Panama City did develop age-related high blood pressure. His team learned that in their homelands, the Kuna consume large amounts of cocoa.

And it was observed that the island-dwelling Kuna had significantly higher levels of nitrite-nitrate in their blood, which helps keep pressure down.

Back in Boston, people in a study group have nitric oxide numbers pretty much like those seen in the urban-dwelling Kuna. Hollenberg's team tried having them consume either high-flavanol or low-flavanol cocoa, and saw a significant response in the nitric oxide flow over a short time.

Now the scientists are preparing for a more specific study of the active ingredient of the compounds to conclusively determine if regulating nitric oxide with flavanols has a positive impact.

Keen noted that while early studies of flavanols showed they were beneficial, "it's only been in the last few years that we've been able to isolate some of the active components of flavanols and do the biochemistry that's needed to understand the mechanisms.

"Of course, it's still possible that flavanols are greater than the sum of their parts, and that they work well in the blood precisely because they are together," Keen said.

Antioxidants - Ahhhh! Better Than Red Wine Or Green Tea, Cocoa Froths With Cancer-preventing Compounds, Cornell Food Scientists Say

ITHACA, N.Y. -- There is a new reason to enjoy hot cocoa on a cold winter's night in front of a cozy fire. Consider it a health drink.

Beyond the froth, cocoa teems with antioxidants that prevent cancer, Cornell University food scientists say. Comparing the chemical anti-cancer activity in beverages known to contain antioxidants, they have found that cocoa has nearly twice the antioxidants of red wine and up to three times those found in green tea.

Their finding will be published Dec. 3 in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry , a peer-reviewed publication.

Scientists have long known that cocoa contains antioxidants, but no one knew just how plentiful they were compared with those in red wine and green tea.

The Cornell researchers, led by Chang Y. (Cy) Lee, chairman of the Department of Food Science and Technology at the university's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y., say the reason that cocoa leads the other drinks is its high content of compounds called phenolic phytochemicals, or flavonoids, indicating the presence of known antioxidants that can stave off cancer, heart disease and other ailments. They discovered 611 milligrams of the phenolic compound gallic acid equivalents (GAE) and 564 milligrams of the flavonoid epicatechin equivalents (ECE) in a single serving of cocoa. Examining a glass of red wine, the researchers found 340 milligrams of GAE and 163 milligrams of ECE. In a cup of green tea, they found 165 milligrams of GAE and 47 milligrams of ECE.

"If I had made a prediction before conducting the tests, I would have picked green tea as having the most antioxidant activity," said Lee. "When we compared one serving of each beverage, the cocoa turned out to be the highest in antioxidant activity, and that was surprising to me."Phenolic compounds protect plants against insects and pathogens, and they remain active even after food processing. A decade ago "food scientists did not know that phenolics had an important role in human health," says Lee.

Lee and his colleagues used two chemical tests that measured how well the cocoa compounds scavenge for free radicals -- agents that cause cancer, heart disease and other diseases.

In the paper, the researchers discuss eating chocolate bars instead of drinking cocoa. "Although a bar of chocolate exhibits strong antioxidant activity, the health benefits are still controversial because of the saturated fats present," the researchers write. They explain that cocoa has about one-third of a gram of fat per one-cup serving, compared with eight grams of fat in a standard-size 40-gram chocolate bar.

Faced with the confusing prospect of drinking red wine or green tea or cocoa, Lee suggests enjoying all three in different parts of the day. "Personally, I would drink hot cocoa in the morning, green tea in the afternoon and a glass of red wine in the evening. That's a good combination," he says.

The research paper is titled "Cocoa Has More Phenolic Phytochemicals and a Higher Antioxidant Capacity than Teas and Red Wine." Lee's collaborators are his former graduate student, Ki Won Lee; Hyong Joo Lee, a professor at Seoul National University, South Korea; and Young Jun Kim, a post-doctoral researcher at Cornell. The research was funded in part by the BioGreen 21 Program, Rural Development Administration, Republic of South Korea

Monday, January 09, 2006

Fashion design

Fashion design is the applied art dedicated to the design of clothing and lifestyle accessories created within the cultural and social influences of a specific time.

Fashion designers may work under their own name, for example Donna Karan, or for another Designer name or Brand. Designer brands which have a 'name' as their Brand such as Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren are likely to be designed by a team of individual designers under the direction a designer director.

Fashion design differs from costume due to its core product having a built in obsolescence usually of one to two seasons. A season is defined as either autumn/winter or spring/summer. Fashion design is generally considered to have started in the 19th century with Charles Frederick Worth who was the first person that sewed his label into the garments that he created. Whilst all articles of clothing from any time period are studied by academics as costume design however only clothing created after 1858 could be considered as fashion design.


Fashions of 1915 by Poiret and Lanvin from Le Bon Ton.
Enlarge
Fashions of 1915 by Poiret and Lanvin from Le Bon Ton.

Couture beginnings

The first fashion designer who was not merely a dressmaker was Charles Frederick Worth (1826–1895). Before the former draper set up his maison couture (fashion house) in Paris, clothing design and creation was handled by largely anonymous seamstresses, and high fashion descended from styles worn at royal courts. Worth's success was such that he was able to dictate to his customers what they should wear, instead of following their lead as earlier dressmakers had done. With his unprecedented success, his customers could attach a name and a label to his designs once they learned that they were from the House of Worth, thus starting the tradition of having the designer of a house be not only the creative head but the symbol of the brand as well. (Foreshadowing another contemporary trend, the House of Worth remained in business long after its founder's death in 1895, continuing until Worth's great-grandson closed the house in 1952.)

Worth's former apprentice Paul Poiret opened his own fashion house in 1904, melding the styles of Art Nouveau and aestheic dress with Paris fashion. His early Art Deco creations signalled the demise of the corset from female fashion.

Following in Worth's and Poiret's footsteps were: Patou, Vionnet, Fortuny, Molyneux ( who taught Dior, Balmain and Lanvin ), Lanvin, Chanel, Mainbocher, Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, and Dior. Hand in hand with clothing, haute couture accessories evolved internationally with such names as Guccio Gucci, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, Thierry Hermès, Judith Leiber, and others.

It was during this period that many design houses began to hire artists to sketch or paint designs for garments. The images alone could be presented to clients much more cheaply than by producing an actual sample garment in the workroom. If the client liked the design, she ordered it and the resulting garment made money for the house. Thus, the tradition of designers sketching out garment designs instead of presenting completed garments on models to customers began as an economy.

The early twentieth century

Throughout the 1920s and '30s, all high fashion originated in Paris, and to some extent London. American and British fashion magazines sent editors to the Paris fashion shows. Department stores sent buyers to the Paris shows, where they purchased garments to copy (and openly stole the style lines and trim details of others). Both made-to-measure salons and ready-to-wear departments featured the latest Paris trends, adapted to the stores' assumptions about the lifestyles and pocket books of their targeted American customers.


1940's and 1950's

Most fashion houses closed during occupation of Paris during World War II, and several designers including Mainbocher permanently relocated to New York. Nazi Germany continued to support some couture during the Occupation of Paris. Hollywood, largely underwritten by New York garment manufacturers, became the fashion focus during WWII. Paris recovered its primacy in the post-war era with Dior's New Look, but Paris was never the sole arbiter of trends again.

1960's and the rise of ready-to-wear

The rise of British fashion in the mid-sixties with ready-to-wear designers such as Mary Quant signalled a temporary end of French dominance. Taking their cue from street fashion, these designers catered to a younger consumer and offered retailers a new source of inspiration.

By the early 1960s, celebrities were becoming the new Fashion icons, even though they in turn wore designs from the couturiers of the day: influential "partnerships" of celebrity and high-fashion designer included Audrey Hepburn and Givenchy, and Jackie Kennedy and Oleg Cassini.

1970's

The decade began with a continuation of the hippie look from the 1960s. Jeans remained frayed and the Tie dye was still popular. The space age look was on the wane. Hems began dropping in 1974 to below the knee, until finally reaching the lower midcalf in 1977, called the midi skirt. Yves St Laurent introduced the peasant look in 1976 which became very influential. Skirts were gathered into tiers and shoulderlines dropped. Clothing became very unstructured and fluid at this point.

Punk as a style originated from London from the designer Vivienne Westwood and her partner Malcolm McClaren. Postmodernist and iconaclastic in essence this movement was a direct reaction to the economic situation during the economic depression of the period. Punk had at it's heart a manifesto of creation through disorder. Safety pins became nose and ear jewellery, rubber fetishwear was subverted to become daywear and images of mass murders, rapists and criminal were elavated to iconagraphic status. The trend dictation of the old couture houses was over.


1990's to present

Echoing the end of the 19th century, fashion at the end of the 20th century took on an ominous mixture of opulence and decadence, combined with a shared prospect of unavoidable radical change. The designer that best summed up this new mood was the British designer Alexander McQueen, His runway shows tackled themes that fashion had previous not embraced. These themes included rape, disability, religious violence, death and body modification. Models wore contatc lenses that blank out there eyes, or plaster neck braces and metal restraints that kept their bodies in rigid and painful poses.

This new mood was in dramatic contrast to the role and perception of fashion in the 1980's which was seen as being solely about status and power. Designer fashion now found itself aligned with contemporary artists including Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and the Chapman Brothers. Other designers that were part of this movement included Martin Margiela, Hussain Chalayan, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Nicolas Ghesquière.

Fashion Education

Most fashion designers have attended art school. There are a number of well known fashion design schools worldwide. The most famous is Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London. Alumni of St. Martins include John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, and Hussien Chalayan. Other notable schools are Parsons The New School for Design in New York City, Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and The Royal College of Arts in London.

Income

Median annual earnings for fashion designers were $48,530 in 2000. The middle 50 percent earned between $34,800 and $73,780. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $24,710, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $103,970. Median annual earnings were $52,860 in apparel, piece goods, and notions--the industry employing the largest numbers of fashion designers.


Related terms

  • Sewing Professional is the most general term for those who make their living by sewing, teaching, writing about sewing, or retailing sewing supplies. She or he may work out of her home, a studio, or retail shop, and may work part-time or full-time. She or he may be any or all or the following sub-specialities:
  • A Custom Clothier makes custom garments one at a time, to order, to meet an individual customer's needs and preferences.
  • A Custom Dressmaker specializes in women's custom apparel, including day dresses, careerwear, suits, evening or bridal wear, sportswear, or lingerie.
  • A Tailor makes custom menswear-style jackets and the skirts or trousers that go with them, for men or women.
  • An Alterations Specialist, or Alterationist adjusts the fit of completed garments, usually ready-to-wear, or restyles them. Note that while all tailors can do alterations, by no means can all alterationists do tailoring.
  • Designers think up combinations of line, proportion, color, and texture for intended garments. They may have no sewing or patternmaking skills whatsoever, and may only sketch or conceptualize garments.
  • Patternmakers flat draft the shapes and sizes of the numerous pieces of a garment by hand using paper and measuring tools or by computer using AutoCAD based software, or by draping muslin on a dressform. The resulting pattern pieces must comprise the intended design of the garment and they must fit the intended wearer.
  • A Wardrobe Consultant or Fashion Advisor recommends styles and colors that are flattering for a client.
  • A Seamstress is someone who sews seams, or in other words, a machine operator in a factory who may not have the skills to make garments from scratch or to fit them on a real body. This term is not a synonym for dressmaker. Seamstress is an old euphemism for prostitute. At the turn of the last century in Seattle, for example, 80% of the city's revenues came from taxes on sewing machines, which were placed in windows instead of red lights. No doubt respectable dressmakers and tailors had to sew in the dark.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Ah, Are You Digging On My Grave?

++ by Thomas Hardy ++


“Ah, are you digging on my grave,
My loved one?—planting rue?”
—”No: yesterday he went to wed
One of the brightest wealth has bred.
‘It cannot hurt her now,’ he said,
‘That I should not be true.’”

“Then who is digging on my grave,
My nearest dearest kin?”
—”Ah, no: they sit and think, ‘What use!
What good will planting flowers produce?
No tendance of her mound can loose
Her spirit from Death’s gin.’”

“But someone digs upon my grave?
My enemy?—prodding sly?”
—”Nay: when she heard you had passed the Gate
That shuts on all flesh soon or late,
She thought you no more worth her hate,
And cares not where you lie.

“Then, who is digging on my grave?
Say—since I have not guessed!”
—”O it is I, my mistress dear,
Your little dog , who still lives near,
And much I hope my movements here
Have not disturbed your rest?”

“Ah yes! You dig upon my grave…
Why flashed it not to me
That one true heart was left behind!
What feeling do we ever find
To equal among human kind
A dog’s fidelity!”

“Mistress, I dug upon your grave
To bury a bone, in case
I should be hungry near this spot
When passing on my daily trot.
I am sorry, but I quite forgot
It was your resting place.”