Million Hearts Launches New Program to Improve Americans' Blood Pressure Control

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Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched the Million Hearts initiative to prevent a million heart attacks and strokes in five years.

Every 6 seconds, someone in the world dies from stroke. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asks Americans to take immediate action to reduce their risk for stroke.

As part of this initiative, the CDC recently launched  the "Team Up. Pressure Down" program to help improve Americans' blood pressure control. Highlights from this program are provided below. For additional details, visit millionhearts.hhs.gov/resources/teamuppressuredown.html.

High Blood Pressure Basics

What is Hypertension?

Did you know? One in three adults in the U.S. has high blood pressure and many of them do not know it. High blood pressure (also called hypertension) increases your risk for a heart attack or stroke.

What is blood pressure? Blood pressure is the force of blood against your artery walls as it circulates through your body. High blood pressure is unsafe because it makes your heart work harder to pump blood. This can cause damage to the arteries and puts you

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Great Labor Day Weekend Culminates in a Rainbow Above the Conejo Valley

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The weather was seasonably warm this Labor Day weekend and under partly cloudy skies most of the day. To me the weather seemed picture perfect, and I believe this rainbow photo taken from the North Ranch section of Westlake Village sums up what a great weekend it was.

Photo courtesy of Ed Garnett. Speaking of Ed, he is a Board Member of the Conejo Free Clinic, which provides medical and legal services to local residents in need. I encourage you to take a look at this worthy local non-profit that helps our local community. .

Here were some of those clouds a little earlier tonight above Conejo Mountain, seen from the 101 Freeway in Camarillo.

Sand Sculpture Contest at the 2012 Hueneme Beach Festival Was a Hit!

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The 14th Annual Toni Young Hueneme Beach Festival took place the weekend of August 18-19, 2012. I had the opportunity to beat the Conejo Valley heat and head out to the festival on the 19th. What a treat it was!

While not the largest festival around Ventura County, the Hueneme Beach Festival sure is one of the more engaging and relaxing festivals around town. Like other festivals, there were vendors, a fun car show (lots of low-rider cars on display), great entertainment and family fun with games and rides.

View of the Hueneme Beach Festival from the beach.

To top it off, the 4th Annual Sand Sculpture Contest was a blast! As you can see below, competitors carved away as we watched them work their magic in the sand. With the Hueneme Beach Pier in the backdrop, attendees were able to enjoy cool ocean breezes while gazing upon these master sandcrafters.

The Hueneme Beach Festival generally takes place the 3rd weekend of August each year. The event is now dedicated to Toni Young, former Port Hueneme Mayor and city councilman for 16 years, who passed away after a sudden illness in December 2008. This is a wonderful event in her honor and definitely worth going out of your way for.

Conejo Valley Clouds on a Balmy, Slightly Humid, Mid-August Morning

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We're slowly but surely coming off of a summer heatwave in this week as the early morning cloud cover makes its way in to the Conejo Valley. It is still hot out and the humidity in the air makes it feel slightly more hot. In any case, these clouds make for some dramatic scenes in the early morning Thousand Oaks sky.

View these and other scenes around Ventura County on the Conejo Valley Guide Pinterest boards at pinterest.com/conejojoe/ventura-county-views/

The World's Most Valuable Car, the 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, on Display Again at The Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard

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The world's most valuable car, the 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, is on display again at The Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard. The 57SC Atlantic is on loan to the museum from its unnamed owner, who purchased the car for somewhere in the range of $30 to $40 million in 2010. There is some interesting information about the 57SC Atlantic at www.supercars.net/cars/2705.html. The Mullin Automotive Museum is a "must see" activity for anyone in the area. The cars in the museum are historic works of art and you can see them in person right here in Ventura County. Trust me, you won't regret it.

 

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Simi Valley Residents Featured in 25th Anniversary Shark Week "Sharkzilla" Episode

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The last few years I've had several home remodeling projects managed by Sean Tohill of All Trades Ready Construction. Sean's a really nice guy and he and his team did some great work at my house.

Sean frequently mentioned his wife, Lisa, had a passion for unearthing fossils out in Bakersfield and that they spent many a weekend up there. But we never talked about it in detail as cabinetry, mirrors, tiles and bath fixtures represented the main topic at hand.

Two weeks ago he told me, "Make sure to watch 'Sharkzilla' on the Discovery Channel's 25th Anniversary Shark Week! You and the kids will get a kick out of it!" The Sharkzilla episode first aired this past Monday night. I recorded it and watched it the next day. HOLY MEGALADON! He didn't tell me that he and Lisa would be PROMINENTLY FEATURED in the show! They were great!

Shark Week 25th Anniversary sign and massive 6 foot tall megaladon fin temporarily on display at the Tohill residence in Wood Ranch!

Sharkzilla features the cast of Mythbusters and a team that constructed a MASSIVE 52 foot long megaladon shark that lived 15 million years ago. This gigantic creature wiith 8 foot wide mechanical jaws was brought to the sand next to the Ventura Pier to a cheering crowd.

So, where did Sean and Lisa Tohill come in? The Mythbusters team learned that the Tohills own an 85 acre White Whale Quarry in Bakersfield. Yes, 12 to 15 million years

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World Toilet Day is November 19th!

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The World Toilet Organization was founded in 2001 as a global non-profit organization committed to improving toilet and sanitation conditions worldwide.  The WTO's founding day of November 19th is celebrated each year as "World Toilet Day" to increase awareness of global sanitation issues.  WTO has over 150 member organizations around the world.

WTO founder Jack Sim was named a "Hero of the Environment" by Time Magazine in 2008.  He seeks to destigmatize the toilet and make it a status symbol for the poor.  "I want people to aspire to owning a toilet, just like others aspire to own a Louis Vuitton bag," he told Time.  Heck, I'm already there.

From the "Putting Things Into Perspective" department:  Over 2.6 BILLION people around the world do not have access to basic sanitation.  In other words, over 8 times the entire U.S. population around the world don't even have access to a toilet!

The WTO describes its logo on its website.  The logo's message is "Love our Toilet." "The logo of the WTO is the image of a toilet seat-cover viewed from an angle as how most people would see it. The ring in the middle of the toilet seat-cover signifies a connected circle of members. Blue was chosen as the color of the toilet seat-cover as a symbolization of water and how WTO is also closely-related to water issues."

Visit www.worldtoilet.org for more information.