Virtual Non Reality | Ruth Ostrow | @ostrowruth - Part 18Ruth Ostrow

Virtual Non-Reality

By Ruth Ostrow on 4 August 2012 in All Posts, Weekend Magazine Columns

Shortly we are to be introduced to an alarming and wildly new technology in mobile media.

JUST in case not everyone’s heard, within 18 months we are to be introduced to a completely new technology in mobile media. The product is called Google Glasses, a pair of regular-looking glasses but with transparent computer screen lenses and earphones. As you walk along the street, everything you could possibly want and need is transmitted to you.

According to promotional material, if you look at a restaurant name and say ‘‘review’’, info will flash up immediately; you can arrive at your bus stop to be told, ‘‘5.30 bus cancelled, next closest bus is . . .’’ (map provided). The glasses can take photos and record videos, and send them out to people; give directions; flash you what’s on at the theatre you’re passing and book your tickets; flash your email messages and phone calls at you for you to accept or decline by voice command. Continue Reading →

Phobias

By Ruth Ostrow on 29 July 2012 in All Posts, Weekend Magazine Columns

There is a surprise candidate as the No 1 cause of early ageing in Western society and it’s not bad living.

THERE are a number of factors that lead to premature ageing, according to a recent study. The usual suspects are there: smoking, drinking, obesity, living in polluted cities. But the No 1 cause really surprised me: phobias.

An article in The Huffington Post revealed the world is full of phobics and that almost 10 per cent of Americans had at least one, with the statistic rising dramatically for women. This can be a specific fear such as arachnophobia (fear of spiders) or an overall uneasiness in certain situations, such as agoraphobia or social phobia.

‘‘Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital analysed survey results and blood samples from 5243 women, ages 42 to 69, finding that intense phobic anxiety leads to faster biological ageing (and found) a link between anxiety and shorter telomeres, DNA- protein complexes on the ends of chromosomes that are thought to be the biological markers of ageing.’’ Continue Reading →

Show me the money

By Ruth Ostrow on 21 July 2012 in All Posts, Weekend Magazine Columns

AM I the only one who had a seriously bad reaction to the financial details that emerged from the divorce battle between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes?

Just after the announcement of the split, a story titled ‘‘Katie set to lose millions’’ was doing the media rounds. It referred to her prenuptial agreement worth a debated $US50 million including their California home. The story said that with Cruise’s estate worth upwards of $275m, Holmes was expected to sue for more. Since then we know there’s been a settlement.

But prior to this New York divorce attorney Vikki Ziegler told Hollywood Life that because of the pre-nup, Holmes would need to use their daughter, Suri, as ‘‘a pawn’’ to get more money. ‘‘She’ll have to show that Suri has nannies, cars, activities, clothes, hair appointments. That a hefty amount each month is needed to maintain Suri’s lifestyle.’’ An early story that ran the media gauntlet alleged Suri had a $150,000 shoe collection. Continue Reading →

Time to be bad

By Ruth Ostrow on 16 July 2012 in All Posts, Weekend Magazine Columns

There’s health for the body. But there’s also health for the spirit and the two don’t coexist. Time to be bad.

IT was the best laid schemes of mice and men. After a wretched year of studying full-time at university and working, my partner and I decided to take a health break in Bali. Ubud, in the mountains, is the capital of healthy living and detox. There are organic raw food restaurants, a daily supply of yoga classes, endless natural healing therapies, and massage. We found a lodge surrounded by nature, away from traffic fumes and the hustle and bustle, and allowed ourselves a couple of days to unwind. Continue Reading →

Shame and Guilt

By Ruth Ostrow on 9 July 2012 in All Posts, Weekend Magazine Columns

THE Grant Hackett interview on the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes made me contemplate shame versus guilt. One has conscience one doesn’t.

As most people know by now, Hackett talked of his terrible embarrassment at trashing his home, and what has amounted to sabotaging his career, marriage and reputation so publicly.

As I watched, I wondered what exactly it was that was shaming him. Was it his actions? Was he ashamed of acting out so violently? Or rather the fact that socially he was now a pariah and seen in a poor light? Continue Reading →

Fear of Feelings

By Ruth Ostrow on 30 June 2012 in All Posts, Weekend Magazine Columns

There is a big difference between being emotional and actually feeling things.

ONE of my lecturers said something interesting the other day, certainly food for thought. We were told to create a film scene with real characters doing what people realistically do and say. And he cautioned us to be careful not to let the actors emote or express too much. ‘‘People in real life find it really hard to let themselves feel things. It’s often painful and embarrassing to feel.’’

I thought, this doesn’t apply to me or many people I know. I was figuring maybe it’s a cultural thing, the difference between, say, hot-blooded Latinate versus Anglo-Saxon behaviour? Continue Reading →

Huge Potential

By Ruth Ostrow on 24 June 2012 in All Posts, Weekend Magazine Columns

I’m loving the hottest new overused word. Everyone seems to have it. Seems there is no limit to it. It’s ‘‘potential’’ and it’s spreading like the flu.

My friend, a leader in his field, was recently inter- viewing candidates for a position. He said he asked 100 people why they thought they would be good for the job. They all squeezed it in at some point. Here it comes . . . ‘‘I really think I have huge potential’’ or ‘‘I really think this job has huge potential for me’’. Note also the word ‘‘huge’’. People or things rarely simply have potential — they all have it in huge doses.

The other usage of the word is when editors, teachers or bosses are assessing our work. These days, every piece of art or writing ‘‘really has potential’’. In other words, it isn’t good at present, but if you completely redo it, it may possibly be good one day. Continue Reading →

Depression is a broken arm

By Ruth Ostrow on 16 June 2012 in All Posts, Weekend Magazine Columns

There’s a broken cog inside the minds of many depression sufferers but few understand what they can’t see.

WE read stories every week about murder-suicides, often involving the most unlikely people: good parents, the nice neighbour next door. ‘‘Why didn’t she ask for our help?’’, ‘‘I knew he was under pressure but I didn’t think that . . .’’ and ‘‘I didn’t know he/she was depressed!’’ are among the most common reactions from disbelieving family and friends.

As a community, we try to comprehend what goes on in the mind of a seemingly untroubled human being who feels they can’t go on, and then feels it’s right to take their loved ones with them. Are their minds different to ours? How is such a thing possible? Continue Reading →

Sin foods are good for you

By Ruth Ostrow on 9 June 2012 in All Posts, Weekend Magazine Columns

Go figure. Sin foods cheese, red wine and chocky can be very healthy!

IT’S interesting observing the refrigerator at the moment as pressure mounts on both students in the house — my HSC daughter and myself (Masters degree). I start getting cravings around midday and by late afternoon I’m at the kitchen counter, eating slice after slice of cheese or piece after piece of chocolate.

Having studied nutrition, I can attest we are ravenous for a reason. The human body is a clever machine. And the news is, sin food is often good for you.

Cheese and dairy foods contain tryptophan, an essential amino acid that functions as a biochemical precursor for serotonin (a neurotransmitter), which is needed to ward off depression. Continue Reading →

Comparing ourselves to others

By Ruth Ostrow on 7 June 2012 in All Posts, Weekend Magazine Columns

WE never seem happy with our achievements because we compare ourselves up never down to others.

I WAS complaining to someone the other day that I wasn’t happy with my creative achievements. Despite a lifetime of being a journalist with a body of work accumulated over 30 years that could sink a ship, I have always lamented the novels I never wrote and, more recently, the films I didn’t make.

It’s the yearning of the creative soul. Which is why I’m attempting to make amends by going back to university to learn skills that will allow me to make the films and documentaries I wish I’d written and made long ago. Having said that, the same longing keeps coming back. It’s hard watching young people, with their lives ahead and all the potential in the world, having the opportunity to embark on the journey I’m making later in life. It’s also hard to be taught about one’s peers around the world who are the leading lights in the creative spheres you want to enter. Continue Reading →

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