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Best Foods For Healthy Teeth

May 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Brushing and flossing every day is essential for good dental care, but did you know that your diet can also make a big difference in the health of your teeth? Here is a quick list of foods that are positive for your enamel and gums, as well as some to avoid.

One of the best foods for your mouth is celery. The stringy vegetable actually contributes to good dental care in a pair of ways. To chew it thoroughly requires you to produce extra saliva, which washes away bacteria. It also helps massage your gums and clean between your teeth.

If you’re looking for a beverage that has positive oral effects, green tea is a great choice. This drink contains chemicals called catechins that naturally kill plaque-causing bacteria in your mouth before they can attach to your teeth.

One interesting thing to note about our ancestors is that they had remarkably healthy, powerful teeth. Doctors attribute this to a diet heavy in seeds, which are great for naturally abrading teeth to clean away other food residue. Sesame seeds are great for this.

And, of course, the absolute best thing you can put in your mouth to prevent tooth decay is lots and lots of water. Water keeps your gums moist, washes away food residue and nasty bacteria, and hydrates you as a bonus.

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Five Great Alfred Hitchcock Films

April 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Alfred Hitchcock is widely regarded as the master of cinematic suspense, laying the groundwork for generations of filmmakers after him. His movies are complex, psychologically twisted and incredibly gripping. Here are five of his must-sees.

Psycho
Easily the essential Hitchcock film if you can see only one, this thriller basically created the slasher genre as we know it. Anthony Perkins is unbelievable as repressed motel owner Norman Bates, who has a scary secret in his basement.

Vertigo
Jimmy Stewart plays a retired police detective who is hired to shadow a man’s wife. She leads him into a web of betrayal, lies and very high places. Some of Hitchcock’s most distinctive camerawork makes this one a must-see.

North By Northwest
With a little grander a scale than some of Hitchcock’s other films, North by Northwest tells the tale of an advertising executive who is mistaken for a government agent by espionage operatives and chased across the United States. Some epic set pieces.

Rear Window
Hitchcock collaborates with Jimmy Stewart again for this story of obsession and voyeurism where a disabled photographer, confined to a wheelchair, believes that he might have witnessed a murder.

Rope 
One of Hitchcock’s most experimental films, Rope was the director’s first work in color. Based on a play by Patrick Hamilton, the film was shot to appear as if it was made in one single take in real time. It’s an amazing technical feat.

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Must-Visit Parks in California

April 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

California is a state full of stunning landscapes and diverse ecological environments. With some of the best parks in the country, these represent some of the best that you can visit.

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
Frequently proclaimed the best redwood park in the state, Prairie Creek is full of incredible wildlife. Most impressive, however, are the redwoods themselves, towering hundreds of feet into the air. It's a spectacular sight well worth the trip.

Yosemite National Parks
Yosemite is one of the most impressive parks in the world, much less California. With crystal clear streams, dramatic granite cliffs, and amazing groves of giant sequoias, it's hard to find a stretch of nature prettier than this one.

Death Valley National Park
Full of diverse desert environments, this park has scenery and wildlife you won't find anywhere else in the country. Also cool is Badwater Basin, which at 282 ft below sea level is the lowest point in North America.

Hearst Castle
This state park is actually the estate of former newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. The massive home contains an impressive collection of art and antiques, all of which you can see on the tours here. It's a unique stop that is well worth a visit.

King's Canyon National Park
With tall trees and deep canyons, this park is full of scenic wonders that are breathtaking to behold. Stunning mountain peaks and gorgeous woodlands make it an incredible place to visit any time of the year.

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Spring Produce: Seasonal Fruit and Veggie Highlights to Add to Your Menu

March 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

As spring begins, gardens are alive with new shoots. The spring fruit and vegetable season adds tons of exciting new options to your cooking. Here are some of the best fresh fruits and vegetables to consider cooking with this season.

Asparagus is one of the most eagerly anticipated new crops every spring. When picked fresh, it’s fragrant and delicious. Cooking it is incredibly simple – steam it, roast it or grill it. All it needs is a little salt, pepper and olive oil for its natural flavor to shine.

Garlic shoots are an unusual but remarkable spring harvest. Before the white garlic bulb that you are familiar with forms, the plant grows a large, green shoot, also called a “scape.” This has a flavor similar to the bulb but milder. It’s great for soups.

Spring is also the best time to harvest new potatoes. Although potatoes can stay in the ground through the summer and into the late fall, harvesting them early keeps the skin from setting, making for sweet, tender spuds that cook quickly and burst with flavor.

In terms of fruit, one of the best bounties every spring is the cherry harvest. Cherry fruit starts growing in the middle of the season, and should be eaten quickly after harvesting for the best flavor.

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Spring Has Sprung! Five Famous Poems About the Spring

March 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The beauty and rejuvenating spirit of spring have long been an inspiration to poets. Why not enhance your enjoyment of the season by learning about some of the loveliest spring poems in the English language? Here are five must-read poems that will get your spring off to a shining start this year:
 
"Spring," Gerard Manley Hopkins
In this stunning poem nineteenth century poet Gerard Manley Hopkins observes the lushness of spring and asks: “What is all this juice and all this joy?” He describes how a pear tree brushes against the “descending blue” of the spring sky and how the song of thrushes strikes the ear “like lightening.” This poem will remind you to pay attention to the season’s natural splendor. 
 
"(In Just – )," E.E. Cummings
The title may strike you as odd at first, but if you know a bit about E.E. Cummings’s highly original style you’ll recognize it as the kind of title that’s often found in his oeuvre. This is one of the most delightful poems about spring you’ll ever come across. Cummings describes spring as experienced by children, who see the world as “mud-licious” and “puddle-wonderful” as they play outside. 
 
"A Light Exists In Spring," Emily Dickinson
In this poem, Dickinson celebrates the way that beauty fills the world during spring, a quality of vibrancy which “science cannot overtake / But Human Nature feels.” But Dickinson also laments the ephemeral nature of spring, capturing the way we feel about spring’s passing: “a quality of loss / affecting our Content.” 
 
"Daffodils," William Wordsworth
This Wordsworth classic has long been considered one of the quintessential poems about the season. Wordsworth describes a spring stroll he takes, wandering “lonely as a cloud.” He observes “a host of golden daffodils…fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” Toward the end of the poem, he reflects on how, when he remembers the beauty of the daffodils that afternoon, his heart “with pleasure fills.” This poem will remind you of how spring’s beauty can live within you long after the season has passed. 
 
"A Prayer in Spring," Robert Frost
In this poem, Frost puts forth a prayer asking for a pure and unfettered enjoyment of the season: “Oh give us pleasure in the flowers today,” the poem begins. He prays that divine forces will “keep us here / all simply in the springing of the year.” After observing the sheer beauty around him, he comes to the realization that the splendor of the natural world during spring “is love, and nothing else is love.” 
 
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Paseo’s E- Club

March 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We have some exciting news to share with you! Paseo Colorado Shopping Village recently rebranded our email registration name from Paseo Preferred to Paseo E-Club. Paseo’s E-Club is the best way for us to communicate with our customers and allow them to stay “in the know” about what is going on here at Paseo Colorado. To become a Paseo E-Club member, shoppers and residents are invited to register online to receive a weekly Paseo E-Club email filled with exciting news and offers, special events, and exclusive promotions from Paseo Colorado stores and restaurants.

To sign up, visit www.paseocoloradopasadena.com.

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Five of the Planet’s Healthiest Foods

February 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
As a New Year swings into motion, many people make resolutions to lead a healthier lifestyle. Whether or not you’ve put “better health” at the top of your resolutions list this year, you’ll benefit from adding some of these nutrient-dense superfoods into your diet:
 
Kale
Kale is a dark green leafy vegetable that is a nutritional powerhouse, packed with Vitamins K, C, and A, as well as many other health-enriching vitamins and minerals. It is noted as a particularly strong food source in the prevention of cancer, due to its antioxidant properties and anti-inflammatory nutrients. Kale is easy to grow, wash, and prepare, and can be used in a variety of dishes. 
 
Blueberries
Blueberries continually land on the top of healthy food lists, known for having one of the highest antioxidant capacities among all fruits, vegetables, seasonings, and spices. Many studies have shown that their unique phytonutrient content has a positive effect on the human cardiovascular system. They can be delicious when eaten in pies and other cooked dishes but are particularly beneficial to one’s health when consumed raw.
 
Garlic
Garlic is an undeniably scrumptious and aromatic enhancement to countless dishes and it has the added benefit of being one of the healthiest foods you can consume. Studies have shown that garlic can lower blood triglycerides and total cholesterol while also protecting blood cells and vessels from inflammatory stress.  
 
Spelt
Spelt is a highly nutritious grain with a rich nutty flavor. Think of it as wheat’s much healthier cousin. In fact, it can often be used as a smart alternative for wheat in products such as pasta and bread. Packed with manganese, protein, copper, and zinc, spelt can help with lowering cholesterol, protecting against heart failure, contributing to cancer prevention, and even combatting childhood asthma, among a host of other notable health benefits.
 
Beets
Beets possess a unique phytonutrient content that makes them strong providers of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support. Beets help protect against heart disease, certain cancers, and birth defects, and recent studies have shown that the lutein and zeaxanthin in beets make them particularly effective at maintaining eye health. Beets can make tasty and colorful additions to salads and main dishes.

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

February 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Best wishes for happiness on Valentine's Day and every day.

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Did You Know?

February 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Each year 10 new Conversation Heart sayings are introduced. This year the new sayings are animal themed and include “Cool Cat”,” Puppy Love,” and “Love Bird.” (www.necco.com)

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Five Documentary Filmmakers You Should Know

February 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment
One of the most engaging ways to learn about the world is to watch a good documentary film. If you’re interested in exploring this fascinating genre, here are five of the most skilled documentary filmmakers at work today:
 
Ken Burns
This versatile documentary filmmaker has won multiple Emmy’s and received two Academy Award nominations. Known for his technique of using archival footage and photographs to bring the past alive, he has produced gripping films on a wide variety of topics, including the Civil War, baseball, jazz music, and the American national park system. 
 
Steve James
Steve James is most known for his award-winning must-see documentary Hoop Dreams, which explored the lives of two young men with big basketball ambitions. He followed that success with many other exciting projects, including the acclaimed documentary Stevie. His latest documentary, The Interrupters, an exploration of the culture of violence in Chicago, received huge accolades at the Sundance Film Festival. 
 
Michael Apted
This acclaimed English filmmaker has created an impressive array of award-winning documentaries, features, and television shows. His most famous undertaking is the Up Series, a documentary film project in which he followed the lives of several children from different backgrounds as they grew up. Apted made the first installment when the children were seven and he has revisited them every seven years since then.
 
Kavery Kaul
India-born documentary filmmaker Kavery Kaul has won a variety of honors for her work, including a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship and two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships. Her movies have been shown all over the world and she is best known for her stirring works Long Way From Home, One Hand Don’t Clap, and Wild at Art. Her most recent success, Back Walking Forward, a movie about a young man’s recovery from a serious accident, has received wide acclaim.
 
Errol Morris
Morris is a documentary filmmaker known for his ambition and skill in taking on difficult subjects. His most celebrated success is his Academy Award winning documentary The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the life of Robert S. McNamara. Morris is also well-known for his documentary The Thin Blue Line, which tells the gripping story of a man who has been convicted of a murder he didn't commit. 
 
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