On the very last day of my vacation, I eschew a second work out for a getaway to the movies with Ruby. Though the only showing of a film I didn't really want to see was at 4:30, I loaded up with Boston Lite popcorn and we vamoosed. Ruby has come a long way since I had to follow her around the theatre and take her out for the scary part. Now for a few Reese's Pieces, she'll sit still the whole time. It helped that it was crowded theatre. The movie was VERY strange (think Bas Lehrman does kids films) and no wonder, since the director was George Miller (of Mad Max fame). The message—that humans are destroying the natural habitat is not new, but some folks are bent of shape about it. I mean, go back to Planet of the Apes if you want to take an issue with that kind of messaging. Anyway, the film had a deeply disturbing color palate and a VERY disturbing passage where "Mumbles" is prisoner in an aquarium. I don't think the kids were old enough to get why it was disturbing, but I know most of the adults were giving it a "WHAT?" As it was, I was forced to eat some Reese's Pieces myself, especially when I noted that a serving size was 200 pieces!!!! I was generally appalled at the behavior at the movies. I either need to get out more often or much less often.
Breakfast
2 Sliced Eggs
2 SLices Balthazar Multi-Grain Bread
3 oz. 50% Jalapeno Cheddar
Coffee
Lunch:
Fritata
Salad
Snack
Beef Jerky
Half of a 6.5 oz Boston Lite Popcorn
Reese's Pieces
Dinner: Paparazzi
Garden Salad
Boneless Grilled Chicken
Broccoli
Asparagus
I've been studying up alot on the nutritional value of popcorn and how really really damaging the movie theatre version of it is. It's hard to get a real factual grasp because much of this information is kept under wraps and no movie theatre chains ever own up to any results. The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) made headlines a few years ago when they "outed" movie theatre popcorn but many critics say their only purpose in life is to make people "afraid of their food." When I did what research I could, the numbers really were horrifying. One Medium movie popcorn (which at 11 cups, is very small if you ask me) has 910 Calories, and 639 of them from fat. Compare that to a similar volume of Boston Lite Popcorn which has 420 calories and 120 of them from fat. (I also looked at Newman's Own microwave, and it was about the same as Boston Lite.) The total fat in movie popcorn is 71G while the Boston Lite is 12G. According to Nutrition Action, "That’s almost three day’s worth of sat fat, or what you’d get from six Big Macs." It has an unhealthy level of saturated fat because most chain theatres pop their corn in coconut oil (The Coolidge in Boston does not, as I have made popcorn there). Since the general rule of thumb is to avoid foods that have over half of their calories from fat, we'd all better be skipping the movie popcorn. Unless, that is, we're considering it "the treat" for the night. Most folks skip the chocolate in favor of the popcorn because it's healthier. In the final analysis, it's probably better to get the Raisinets or Goobers because at least you're getting some nutrition from them. It's such a sad state of affairs, because I truly love movie popcorn. Now I will have to content myself with sneaking in a bag of Boston Lite everytime I go and want popcorn. But that's nothing for me, since Emily and I once snuck in an entire Thai dinner, with Salad. But we were more adventuresome then.
Showing posts with label Charlotte's Web. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charlotte's Web. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Monday, December 25, 2006
Year 2, Day 297: Christmas
December 23, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Do You Believe in Surnits?
By JACQUELINE WOOLLEY
Austin, Tex.
WE delight in our children’s belief in reindeer that can fly and a fat man who fits through chimneys and travels the whole world in a single night. Many children believe fiercely not only in Santa Claus but also in other fantastical beings like the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy from the time they are about 3 until they are 7 or 8.
Their eager belief contributes to the common view, shared by psychologists and other scientists, that young children are credulous (and conversely, that adults are not). Children believe everything they are told, we assume, with little regard for logic, a sense of the real world or any of the other criteria adults use to debunk such fictions as the Loch Ness monster or Sasquatch.
But are children really that different from us? A study that my colleagues and I conducted at the Children’s Research Laboratory at the University of Texas suggests not. We found that, in fact, children use many of the same cues adults use to distinguish fantasy from reality.
Our experiment was designed to investigate how a young child, upon encountering a fantastical being like a unicorn in a storybook, decides whether it is real or imaginary. Adults often make the call based on context. If, for example, we encounter a weird and unfamiliar insect at a science museum, we are more likely to think it is something real than if we find it in a joke store.
To see if children could also use context in this way, we described “surnits” and other made-up things to our study group. To some of the children, we put surnits in a fantastical context: “Ghosts try to catch surnits when they fly around at night.” To others, we characterized them in scientific terms: “Doctors use surnits to help them in the hospital.”
The 4- to 6-year-olds who heard the medical description were much more likely to think surnits were real than children who were told they had something to do with ghosts. The children demonstrated that they do not indiscriminately believe everything they’re told, but use some pretty high-level tools to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
If children are so smart, why do they believe in Santa Claus? My view is that they are exhibiting their very rational and scientific cognitive abilities. The adults they count on to provide reliable information about the world introduce them to Santa. Then his existence is affirmed by friends, books, TV and movies. It is also validated by hard evidence: the half-eaten cookies and empty milk glasses by the tree on Christmas morning.
In other words, children do a great job of scientifically evaluating Santa. And adults do a great job of duping them. As we gradually withdraw our support for the myth, and children piece together the truth, their view of Santa aligns with ours. Perhaps it is this kinship with the adult world that prevents children from feeling anger over having been misled.
So maybe this holiday season, when the children come rushing in to see what Santa brought, we should revel not in their wide-eyed wonder, but in how sophisticated and clever their young minds really are.
Jacqueline Woolley is a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
Breakfast
2 Soft-Boiled Eggs
2 Slices Balthazar Multi-Grain Bread
(1 with Super Chunky Peanut Butter)
3 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar
Lunch
Blue Ribbon Burnt Ends & Pulled Chicken
Bubbie's Pickles
Romaine/Cabbage/Feta salad with balsamic vinegar
Movie Snack
Popcorn
Dinner
Turkey
Onions/Celery/Carrots
Broccoli
Green Beans
Again, it was an adventuresome day, as Ruby and I went to see Charlotte's Web and I ventured to cook my own turkey for the VERY FIRST TIME. In all fairness, it was only the double-breast, no drumsticks or anything, it's a pretty scaled down thing. I got it at whole foods and it was about 5 pounds. I got a roasting pan and I sort of winged it. I was a little worried about the whole meat-thermometer, but it came with one (which popped up an hour before the recipe said it would be done) but it all worked out. I had seen on the Food TV Channel show "Unwrapped" where a turkey restaurant said the two key things to cooking your turkey was: cook it upside down for the majority of the time—only turn it over (breast side up) at the end to brown the skin; and two, cook it in less time than is listed. Though I didn't follow these rules closely, I can see where they might make a big difference. Surprisingly, everyone had turkey and liked it. I fortunately did not eat any of the Reese's Bites I got for Ruby at the movies, and when I got home, I wrapped up the chocolate chip cookie dough I had left over, rolled it, and put it in the freezer. Merry Christmas, everybody!
Op-Ed Contributor
Do You Believe in Surnits?
By JACQUELINE WOOLLEY
Austin, Tex.
WE delight in our children’s belief in reindeer that can fly and a fat man who fits through chimneys and travels the whole world in a single night. Many children believe fiercely not only in Santa Claus but also in other fantastical beings like the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy from the time they are about 3 until they are 7 or 8.
Their eager belief contributes to the common view, shared by psychologists and other scientists, that young children are credulous (and conversely, that adults are not). Children believe everything they are told, we assume, with little regard for logic, a sense of the real world or any of the other criteria adults use to debunk such fictions as the Loch Ness monster or Sasquatch.
But are children really that different from us? A study that my colleagues and I conducted at the Children’s Research Laboratory at the University of Texas suggests not. We found that, in fact, children use many of the same cues adults use to distinguish fantasy from reality.
Our experiment was designed to investigate how a young child, upon encountering a fantastical being like a unicorn in a storybook, decides whether it is real or imaginary. Adults often make the call based on context. If, for example, we encounter a weird and unfamiliar insect at a science museum, we are more likely to think it is something real than if we find it in a joke store.
To see if children could also use context in this way, we described “surnits” and other made-up things to our study group. To some of the children, we put surnits in a fantastical context: “Ghosts try to catch surnits when they fly around at night.” To others, we characterized them in scientific terms: “Doctors use surnits to help them in the hospital.”
The 4- to 6-year-olds who heard the medical description were much more likely to think surnits were real than children who were told they had something to do with ghosts. The children demonstrated that they do not indiscriminately believe everything they’re told, but use some pretty high-level tools to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
If children are so smart, why do they believe in Santa Claus? My view is that they are exhibiting their very rational and scientific cognitive abilities. The adults they count on to provide reliable information about the world introduce them to Santa. Then his existence is affirmed by friends, books, TV and movies. It is also validated by hard evidence: the half-eaten cookies and empty milk glasses by the tree on Christmas morning.
In other words, children do a great job of scientifically evaluating Santa. And adults do a great job of duping them. As we gradually withdraw our support for the myth, and children piece together the truth, their view of Santa aligns with ours. Perhaps it is this kinship with the adult world that prevents children from feeling anger over having been misled.
So maybe this holiday season, when the children come rushing in to see what Santa brought, we should revel not in their wide-eyed wonder, but in how sophisticated and clever their young minds really are.
Jacqueline Woolley is a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
Breakfast
2 Soft-Boiled Eggs
2 Slices Balthazar Multi-Grain Bread
(1 with Super Chunky Peanut Butter)
3 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar
Lunch
Blue Ribbon Burnt Ends & Pulled Chicken
Bubbie's Pickles
Romaine/Cabbage/Feta salad with balsamic vinegar
Movie Snack
Popcorn
Dinner
Turkey
Onions/Celery/Carrots
Broccoli
Green Beans
Again, it was an adventuresome day, as Ruby and I went to see Charlotte's Web and I ventured to cook my own turkey for the VERY FIRST TIME. In all fairness, it was only the double-breast, no drumsticks or anything, it's a pretty scaled down thing. I got it at whole foods and it was about 5 pounds. I got a roasting pan and I sort of winged it. I was a little worried about the whole meat-thermometer, but it came with one (which popped up an hour before the recipe said it would be done) but it all worked out. I had seen on the Food TV Channel show "Unwrapped" where a turkey restaurant said the two key things to cooking your turkey was: cook it upside down for the majority of the time—only turn it over (breast side up) at the end to brown the skin; and two, cook it in less time than is listed. Though I didn't follow these rules closely, I can see where they might make a big difference. Surprisingly, everyone had turkey and liked it. I fortunately did not eat any of the Reese's Bites I got for Ruby at the movies, and when I got home, I wrapped up the chocolate chip cookie dough I had left over, rolled it, and put it in the freezer. Merry Christmas, everybody!
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