Lina Ko June 29th, 2009
Last week, two boomers whom I grew up with passed away on the same day – Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett. The former was a musical and entertainment icon while the latter influenced us in pop culture and hairstyle in the 70’s.
I sympathize with Farah Fawcett whose death kind of got sidestepped by the media just because she was unfortunate enough to die on the same day as Michael Jackson, who’s obviously perceived to be bigger in global stature. Larry King who prepared a tribute to the former Charlie’s Angel moved the story from the headline to the sidelines. The Canadian media didn’t do much better. As little as I know about Farah Fawcett’s long struggle with anal cancer, her fight demonstrated a fierce and unrelenting physical strength – in a phone interview, Fawcett’s friend Cher reiterated how Fawcett’s struggle was almost unheard of.
Michael Jackson’s death, in spite of its tragic nature, was a result of declining mental health over a few decades. Jackson has been a tormented soul for a long time. His insecurities about his appearance; his loss of innocent childhood; his constant drive for perfection in spite of his past career prime; and the endless child-abuse allegations drove him to rely on prescription drugs. His downfall has been happening for a long time; yet his unexpected death at 50 triggered a worldwide sensation.
For us boomers, it’s a lesson that mental health is equally important to physical strength. Without the former, the latter will falter. Whether a passing is expected or sudden, let’s remember two influential boomers whose art and lives affected us at some time when we’re growing up.
Lina Ko June 25th, 2009
A recent article in the Globe and Mail reported that job-seeking boomers are joining the ranks of social networkers to hunt for jobs. Until recently, social media such as Facebook were only places to connect with old friends or schoolmates. But when the economy took a nosedive, many boomers have been leveraging social media not just a place for online chatter, but as a crucial job-hunting tool.
Boomers feel that if they are not online, they might be overlooked – a frightening prospect to the middle boomers: the 50-plus crowd. Experts say that baby boomers are joining the ranks of social networkers faster than any other demographic. They are building professional profiles and as a result, many are finding jobs. A January report from Forrester Research shows 60 percent of Americans over age 50 regularly use social media such as blogs, podcasts and online videos. While boomers know sites like LinkedIn are purely professional, they are often shocked to learn Twitter and Facebook can be useful on the job hunt.
According to some recruiters, being active on these social-networking sites can really give a boomer-aged job hunter an edge. Because most people assume boomers are not digital, any boomers who are well connected online will be perceived as progressive. One of the key attributes that somebody of that age can use to differentiate themselves is to demonstrate a comfort zone for using those tools and actually using them frequently.
Lina Ko June 16th, 2009
Having just returned from London, U.K., I cannot resist but recommend a hotel with great service and attention to detail. Having stayed in a variety of hotels, new and old, big and small, all over the world, I must say that The Langham, a five-star London hotel just across the street from the BBC, is a rare find and maintains its consistency in service, quality and overall attention to detail. I haven’t been to London in nine years, and I recall that last time when I visited, I stayed at The Langham Hilton – an elegant grande dame but definitely needed a makeover. Earlier this month, I took a week’s vacation to spend some time in London with two good friends from Hong Kong. The Langham Hilton has now become The Langham and has just gone through an 80-million-pound refurbishment.
The entire experience of my stay was heavenly – great service from the doormen to the reception and the restaurant staff. There’s nothing wrong with boutique hotels, but The Langham offers a lot of things for boomers that boutique hotels can’t – a state-of-the-art fitness centre and plastic floor mats for both the bathtub and the shower chamber. It’s got 380 rooms (the right size) in two wings with classical rooms combined with contemporary design. The Artesian Bar and some other parts of the hotel were designed by renowned architect and interior designer David Collins who also designed the bar at The Claridge’s and Nobu at Berkeley. The hotel has over 140 years of history and the fitness centre, with an indoor swimming pool, used to be the safety vault of the old Barclays Bank. Given the British high-tea tradition, the Palm Court on the lobby floor was the birthplace of afternoon tea in London.
The only tiny shortcomings, and I’m really nitpicking here, were in two areas: the evening bedtime roll-down service started at 6 p.m. which is really way too early to even think about going to bed in a 24-hour city like London. On top of that, the very elegant doorman disappeared at 10:30 p.m. every night including weekends. While I’m not expecting a 24-hour doorman service, I think an extension of evening duty till at least midnight would be a reasonable request. Given the economic recession, the web rates for the hotel rooms were extremely reasonable. I had the privilege of being upgraded to The Club floor which was even more value for money. I’m determined to go back to the same hotel whenever I return to London – and I think it will be very soon.