Eideard

Nowadays when people spend more and more time exploring the depths of cyber space or just watching TV, every effort counts to bring them back to the traditional pleasure of reading.

A leading Italian book store chain Feltrinelli and wine-makers Santa Margherita from northern Italy decided six years ago to join forces to promote reading in their own way. They set up a short story contest for amateur writers on a subject related to wine, where the three winners have their works published on the back of wine bottles…

This year, the winners will see their short stories published in the form of tiny booklets attached to the back of Santa Margherita’s 700,000 bestselling bottles which are about to go on sale in Italy, Santa Margherita’s Ettore Nicoletto said.

“People read very little in Italy…If we manage to stimulate reading with this contest, with these easy but very moving short stories, we can be satisfied because we helped to promote reading among common people who buy bottles of wine for their dinner,” he said.

Just under 47 percent of Italians read at least one book not related to their work or studies in a year, according to a survey conducted by Italy’s statistics agency ISTAT in 2010.

Even if the figure is up from some 45 percent in 2009, it still means that more than half of Italians do not manage to read even one book a year which is not imposed by their work or study duties…

The contest’s popularity has grown over the years with about 800-1,000 short stories written in Italian sent to a special dedicated website a year, Nicoletto said.

Yup. Let’s launch it in the United States – with something better than the crappy beer most people drink. After all there is a difference between drinking to get sozzled – and savoring an alcoholic beverage with body, sophistication and character.

 
Ultraviolet (UV) rays emitted by the sun are the leading environmental cause of skin complaints, premature ageing, sun burn and even skin cancer. But in another nod towards the healthy mediteranean diet, Spanish scientists found substances in the grapes protect cells from the damage…

The University of Barcelona and the Spanish National Research Council looked at the chemical reaction in the skin when hit by UV rays from the sun. They found that flavonoids in the grapes can stop the chemical reaction that causes cells to die and therefore skin damage…

Marta Cascante, a biochemist at the University of Barcelona and director of the research project, said it proves grapes could help protect the skin from sun burn and even skin cancer. She said the research could help to develop skin creams and other products to protect skin from sun damage.

“This study supports the idea of using these products to protect the skin from cell damage and death caused by solar radiation, as well as increasing our understanding of the mechanism by which they act”, she said.

The study also adds to the popular image of the healthy and tanned population of the mediteranean.

Previous research has put the low cancer rates and good health down to tomatoes, olive oil and even red wine.

I would add garlic and love.

Tree-ripened olives in Cyprus

A huge quantity of olive stones on an ancient shipwreck more than 2,000 years old has provided valuable insight into the diet of sailors in the ancient world, say researchers in Cyprus.

The shipwreck, dating from around 400 B.C. and laden mainly with wine amphorae from the Aegean island of Chios and other north Aegean islands, was discovered deep under the sea off Cyprus’s southern coast.

Excavation on the site, which started in November 2007, has determined that the ship was a merchant vessel of the late classical period.

“An interesting piece of evidence that gives us information on the conditions under which the sailors of antiquity lived, are the large numbers of olive pips that were found during excavation, since these pips must have been part of the crew’s food supply,” Cyprus’s antiquities department said in a news release…

Olives and olive oil are a staple of the Mediterranean diet and their consumption over hundreds of years has been well documented.

Italian archaeologists discovered that some of the world’s oldest perfumes, made in Cyprus, were olive oil based. The commodity was also used to fire copper furnaces.

The center, the root and source of so much that is healthy about a Mediterranean diet.

Olive oil, olives.

Keeping Lanarkshire stoked

A bishop has condemned Buckfast, the fortified wine made by monks and regarded by some as the scourge of Scotland. The Right Rev Bob Gillies, Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney in the Scottish Episcopal Church, accused the Devon-based Benedictine monks of betraying Christian values.

Bishop Gillies is the first senior clergyman to criticise the monks of Buckfast Abbey, who have always claimed they are not responsible for the antisocial behaviour that results from the widespread abuse of their product…

He added: “The monks at Buckfast are in a Benedictine monastery, which is founded upon the rule of St Benedict. Benedict urged his monks to live a simple life following a rule that leads them into closer discipleship with the Lord.

“St Benedict, I would have thought, would have been very, very unhappy with what his monks are doing nowadays.”

Investigation reveals that the drink, known colloquially as Buckie, has been mentioned in 5,000 crime reports by Strathclyde Police in the past three years. Almost one in ten of those crimes was violent, according to figures obtained by the BBC under freedom of information legislation. During that period the Buckfast bottle was used as a weapon 114 times and police said the figures suggested there is an association between Buckfast and violence…

Jim Wilson, of J Chandler & Co, claims the Benedictine monks are not to blame for the effects of Buckfast on the outside world, saying: “Why should they accept responsibility? They’re not up there pouring their Buckfast down somebody’s throat. People take it by choice because they like it, because it’s a good product.”

Not the soundest reasoning in the world. But, surely it would suffice for pretty much anyone in the booze business.

I also don’t see anyone standing in the way of prohibition candidates for public office in Scotland.

Management consultant Jackie Slater thought she was completing a normal shopping trip to Morrisons until the checkout assistant demanded to see her ID before scanning two bottles of wine.

“I told her I was really flattered, but I was the wrong side of 50,” she said. But the assistant pointed to her 17-year-old daughter, Emily, and her 18-year-old niece, Annice, who were standing at the end of the checkout chatting.

“She asked: ‘Are they with you?’ I said they’d come to help me carry the bags back to the car. The assistant said: ‘You could be buying the wine for them. It’s the policy – I have to see everyone’s ID to make sure they are all over 18′.”

In vain, Mrs Slater insisted that the wine was for herself and her husband, Peter. But the assistant and then the store manager refused to budge.

At this point I would expect management of the chain to apologize and, maybe, throw in a jug of Chilean Carmenere for free as good will. Not, apparently, at Morrisons.

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All that chocolate might actually help finish the bumper Christmas crossword over the seasonal period. According to Oxford researchers working with colleagues in Norway, chocolate, wine and tea enhance cognitive performance.

The team from Oxford and Norway examined the relation between cognitive performance and the intake of three common foodstuffs that contain flavonoids (chocolate, wine, and tea) in 2,031 older people (aged between 70 and 74).

Participants filled in information about their habitual food intake and underwent a battery of cognitive tests.Those who consumed chocolate, wine, or tea had significantly better mean test scores and lower prevalence of poor cognitive performance than those who did not.

Fruits and beverages such as tea, red wine, cocoa, and coffee are major dietary sources of polyphenols, micronutrients found in plant-derived foods. The largest subclass of dietary polyphenols is flavonoids, and it has been reported in the past that those who consume lots of flavonoids have a lower incidence of dementia.

The latest findings seem to support the theory, although the researchers caution that more research would be needed to prove that it was flavonoids, rather than some other aspect of the foods studied, that made the difference.The effect was most pronounced for wine.

And sex. Don’t forget about sex!