Over the Edge + March 2, 2011 Awesome Things of You Can Find on Craigslist The depravity of Prince George exposed VERONICK KOLLBRAND FEATURES EDITORR iso Swrt/mwnet, 25-35, mus € enjoy Avessimngs “cr I, ewe tH €& eee AYorhs +e eer | so so = oot sae 4 Pee & +o. Box F S24 ONLINE SOURCE Craigslist... Craigslist.org is one of the most visited English language sites on the Internet, boasting classifieds for more than 450 cities around the world. Its main function is to host classified ads for EVERYTHING you could ever think of, from jobs and housing to kinky sex encounters and gardening tips. | recently discovered the magical expanse of Craigslist in its entire sleazy detail. For those of you who were once like me and just used it to browse for basement suites, here is a little preview. Discussion Forums Craigslist boasts a forum for anything you could ever want to know, from kink and bdsm to knitting and sewing, haikus, astronomy and parenting. On a forum for eating disorders, BeefyBacardi had this to say: “Not gonna lie...| LOVE FOOOOOQOOOD!!! | look like Fat Bastard (GET - IN MY BELLY).” On a beauty/fashion forum, when someone asked if you should line your waterline (your lower lash line) with eyeliner, someone said: “Sharpie works best.” To which someone else replied: “that’s for your eyebrows.” And to think how much money I’ve wasted buying fancy eyeliner or eyebrow pencils when | could have just gone to the stationary section and picked me up some permanent marker. It probably lasts a lot longer too! On the psychology forum, victims of child abuse and those diagnosed with bipolar disorder seek valuable and informed second opinions from randoms on the Internet. What do legitimate doctors and psychologists know that everyone else doesn’t anyway? In fact, | learned that excessive dietary sugar and lack of exercise is the real cause of bipolar disorder, not an imbalance of neurotransmitters as some silly researchers have suggested! Cool huh?! Missed Connections Ever see a really hot stranger and then completely fail to attempt talking to them because you’re awkward and don’t have a clue? Well, you can always post a random note on Craigslist about where you met them and maybe they'll get in touch with you over the Internet like normal people. That is, if they happen to be on Craigslist in the missed connections Miracle Anti-Aging Treatment Escape unsightly wrinkles with...exercise? VERONIKA KOLLBRAND FEATURES EDITOR aaa ale a a * a S EEE, ~ a i a S S ~" Who needs Botox when you can have sex? ONLINE SOURCE Anti-aging products have been the crux of a lucrative business for years. Botox, creams, lotions, pills, exotic dried berries from the Amazon — you name it, and a company will assure you it will make you look younger. Astudy by researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton, ON found that the proverbial fountain of youth may come from a much simpler place — getting off your ass and getting your heart rate up. We've all been lectured about the benefits of exercise and its effects on the cardiovascular system but researchers are now finding that it can also extend the life of your DNA — by up to 9 years! The McMaster study used genetically altered mice designed to age twice as fast as normal because of a defect in the repair system of their mitochondria - the energy-producers of the cells. They evaluated differences between the exercise group that was forced to run on treadmills for 45 minutes, three times a week and their sedentary counterparts. After a period of five months in the study, the fit mice looked as healthy, active and young as wild-type mice without the genetic mutation. Their sedentary comparison group showed starkly contrasted signs of aging such as balding, greying and shrinking, along with a low activity level. The researchers also studied recovery of age-related damage to tissue, which the treadmill-runners dominated. Exercise not only protected the muscles, including the heart, but also had anti-aging effects on the brain, skin, hair, gonads, kidneys, spleen and liver. Evidence has been mounting to show that we accumulate more and more mutations in our mitochondrial DNA as we age. As the mitochondria in our cells start to break down because of these mutations, tissue and organ function declines which leads not only to aging but also diseases like cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s. section, see your post, realize it was them who you were talking about, and then decide to contact you. It takes all the responsibility and courage out of dating. Yay! Personals — Casual Encounters Personals are where the magic happens. This is an advertising medium for people who are too extreme for traditional online dating services. Some examples of niche ads you might find are: “| want to lick you” “| just want to make out with a tranny” “Totally discreet and willing to pay a straight dude to let me suck you off” My personal favorite: “The wife’s away... - m4m - 37 (PG)” Note: At first | was choked because cheating is a serious annoyance of mine, but then | read further... “So here’s the deal...l’m the wife...and I’m heading out of town mid-February...would love to find a j/o [jerk-off] buddy for my husband while I’m away... I’m looking for a descent, clean man who’s into j/o while watching some porn with my husband...maybe even giving/receiving some head ... he’s 6’, 7ish, smoker, social drinker, 420 friendly. If this is something that you’re interested in drop me an email...please make sure that you can hold a conversation!!! and have pics!” A lot of things will amuse me - not a lot of things can shock or surprise me. This ad shocked me. | find it way too endearing that a wife would set up a man-date/fellatio exchange for her husband while she was out of town, and to be so thorough as to make sure that the man could hold a conversation so they could pillow talk after their jerk-off sesh. THAT is love right there ladies and gents. The ultimate finding? A halt (and even reversal) of several signs of premature aging in the tissues and organs of the mice that hit the gym. Epidemiological studies have also shown that people who are physically active have fewer chronic diseases and tend to live longer — runners especially. “Every part of the body was protected by exercise,” said Tarnopolsky, a professor of pediatrics and medicine at McMaster’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. “I think that exercise is the most potent anti-aging therapy available today and likely forever.” This may come as a disappointment to those of us who would rather buy some miracle cure off of the Internet, but considering that 24 per cent of Canada’s adult population aged 20 to 69 - 5.3 million people - are obese, it probably wouldn’t hurt for us to kill two birds with one stone on this one. After all, the fact that we have to alter our medical equipment in ICUs to include larger hospital beds and imaging machines just to fit some of the morbidly obese patients that are inevitably winding up there just adds to the message that we're in a crisis with our national health. Basically what all the research is pointing to and has been getting at for years is that, as a society, we need to put down the remote, drag our useless bodies off the couch and start doing something to make us sweat. Duh, right? Then why aren’t we all doing it? Honestly, if you aren't motivated to do it for your health, do it for something even more important — your sex life. Research shows that people who exercise more also tend to have a lower “sexual age,” measured by frequency and satisfaction, as much as 20 years younger. Sex = fitness = more sex. Win win.