Latest news with #McBean
Ottawa Citizen
09-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Ottawa Citizen
Design trends: 'Mocha mousse' makes its move
Article content Move over, grey. Take a back seat, millennial pink. There's a new colour trend in town, and designers say it marks a shift away from the stark interiors of recent years toward something warmer, deeper and more luxurious. Meet 'mocha mousse,' Pantone's colour of the year for 2025. Article content Article content For the uninitiated, mocha mousse isn't quite your grandma's chocolate brown. As Pantone explains it, it's 'a warming, brown hue imbued with richness. It nurtures us with its suggestion of the delectable qualities of chocolate and coffee, answering our desire for comfort.' Given that many of us could use a bit of cozy comfort these days, it's not surprising that a colour with that quality caught the eyes of Pantone's tastemakers. Article content Article content Those in the design industry also pinpoint the colour's earthiness — a distinct change from the huge expanses of white marble in many high-end kitchens built in the last decade or so. Reen-Ann McBean is the general manager of the Ottawa showroom of Cosentino, a Spanish-based manufacturer of engineered stone surfaces. She says the mocha mousse trend is part of an overall rising demand for more natural, less futuristic aesthetic. Article content She recommends the Château Brown shade of her company's durable Silestone product as a mocha mousse option for countertops and backsplashes. Pink-copper and bronze veining gives the shade depth and richness, McBean says. 'It's almost as though there are layers in there,' she notes of the product, which is made from a blend of natural and recycled materials bound together with a resin. 'It's got a lot of texture.' Article content Article content Those veins may raise a related question if you're considering a Château Brown topper for your new kitchen island: What hardware finishes work well with this newly popular colour? Article content Article content For McBean, the sky is really the limit when choosing fixtures to complement the mocha mousse surface. 'It lends itself to so many different possibilities. Because of the depth of the design, you can almost pull anything that you want to out of it,' she says. Copper could work well, as could bronze or even black. And if you can't decide, don't be afraid to mix and match. 'There was a time when you would never put gold and silver fixtures [together] in your space, whereas now, that's almost championed,' she notes. Article content Countertops and backsplashes aren't the only places where you can add some mocha mousse pizzazz to your kitchen. Cabinets, flooring and chair coverings are other elements where the shade works well. If your budget doesn't run to a complete kitchen overhaul, you could add some rich brown tea towels, placemats or upholstered chairs.
CBC
07-03-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Growth in women's sports might be loud and messy at times, but it's part of the journey
Social Sharing There is no doubt that Canada is on an upward trajectory of the development of leagues and expansion teams, creation of jobs in women's sports and generally more attention to women's participation in the global ecosystem. The PWHL is in its second year with plans to expand on the horizon, the NSL is set to launch next month in Vancouver, and the WNBA's Toronto Tempo will tip off in April 2026. Building those leagues and creating new spaces isn't always easy or glamorous. In fact, what we are seeing now has been building for years and in ways that might not be so obvious to everyone. Some of the current success we see has been laid on the foundations of learnings of yesterday. Whether it has been the collapse of other leagues, the intense research and marketing it took to convince people to say it's time to invest, it is still not an easy path. There have been bumps, there will be bumps and nothing will be seamless. It never is. I have been thinking about how much grace will be afforded to new ventures in women's sports. Earlier this month, I sat down in the CBC digital studio with one of the most storied Canadian Olympians, Senator Marnie McBean, to talk about the growth of sports and well, women. I wanted to know what she thinks about barriers and limitations that might continue to exist. McBean was Canada's chef de mission for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and has been an avid mentor for many athletes. She has witnessed this country's ebbs and flows, and has a unique perspective on what she sees around her. The self-deprecating and humble Olympian insisted I call her Marnie as we shared recipes about her famous ribs and talked about ideas she has for food shows. Then we got down to business. The three-time Olympic gold medallist talked about the growth of women's sports and how she and her wife, lawyer Deanah Shelly, are thrilled their nine-year old daughter is in soccer, skiing, basketball and even Girl Scouts. She told me that her daughter feels there are no limits to where she can go. That is something that is remarkably new for girls in Canada. I have a 23-year old daughter and she knows this country without a women's domestic league in soccer or hockey. WATCH | Olympian Marnie McBean on growth of women's sports: Senator Marnie McBean reflects on her Olympic career 5 hours ago Duration 2:04 Beyond the leagues and beyond the teams, there are journeys that women embark on. It's not the same for everyone but there are certain similarities that women experience and McBean reflected on that. She highlighted an issue that is equally important: the mental barriers that sometimes get in the way of women's advancement. McBean admitted that her own journey was not easy but she didn't suffer from harassment or severe systemic barriers that racialized or marginalized counterparts may face. She came out as gay as an adult. "I had the advantage of being a 34-year-old woman who had this strength in my own character, so when I realized who I was . . . I just started telling people," she said in a 2014 interview. During our conversation, McBean reframed success and failure in a way that left me mind-blown. McBean spoke about the fears and doubts that we encounter on a journey, be it building something, creating something as we battle an innate fear of failure. "Fears and doubts are part of a champion's journey," she said simply. After our conversation, I kept replaying those words in my head. As a woman in a predominantly male industry, I feel like I don't give myself the grace to fail. In a recent conversation with my performance coach, Bob Babinski, he told me about his own misses on an assignment and how he has channeled those experiences into learnings. But are women given the grace to fail in the same way? Do we actually support women and girls in new initiatives or even in older projects? Would Canadian society forgive mistakes in new leagues? Or from new teams? McBean reiterated the importance of living beyond those fears. "The best way I can help you and help other women is to normalize the fears and the doubts we have and the questions that we have in our head," she said. "Am I good enough? Am I ready for this? Is it my turn? Those fears and doubts are a normal part of a champion's path." It is normal to doubt and to question. Maybe I question excessively — a trait that is common to my profession. We need to manage those fears and doubts. "In the process of the journey it's a lot about volume control. We question ourselves quite a bit," McBean said. "We're waiting to be all the way ready. Sometimes you gotta go forward when you're not all the way ready. You are ready as you need to be to take a step forward. Turn the volume down on fear and the doubt. And turn the volume up on the 'I have been training', 'I have skills', 'That person is an idiot and has been doing it so I will'." Sometimes in the building of women's sports, we can lose perspective on the essential mental micro pieces because we're so focused on the macro. McBean's reframing of how doubt serves us is important. We react or think about something in a certain way because there is meaning attached to it but we need to have grace with our own inner dialogue. Tennis legend and women's sports advocate Billie Jean King famously said pressure is a privilege. Couple that with McBean's words and we have a brilliant formula for the mental performance required to create, support, and grow women's sports in Canada. We want to see women's sports grow in Canada. We want to see opportunities for all young girls. We need to recognize the internal noise and turn down the volume if need be. Growth might be loud and messy but it's part of the journey and we'll take it.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Couple help NHS mark 75 years of cataract surgery
The NHS is celebrating 75 years of cataract surgery, an operation which helps restore vision. The operation involves removing a lens - a small transparent disc inside the eye - that has become cloudy and replacing it with one made out of acrylic plastic. Without the operation, the cloudy vision can lead to blurry vision and eventually blindness. Roughly half of those over the age of 60 have some degree of cataracts. Since it was first offered at St Thomas' Hospital in 1950, nearly one billion cataract surgeries are estimated to have taken place across the world. One couple from south-east London who have undertaken the procedure is John and Freda McBean. "I am already feeling better and can see more brightness than I could see before," said Mr McBean, a retired deputy teacher from Chislehurst. About 10 years ago, he tore his retina and during the procedure to fix it, the surgeon noticed a cataract was starting to form. Over the last five years, Mr McBean's vision deteriorated leading him to have cataract surgery on his left eye in February to remove the cloudy lens. He said he was not nervous as his wife had the operation on both eyes last year. Mrs McBean, 72, said her vision was now excellent, and that she only needed reading glasses for very fine print. The retired primary school teacher said: "The surgery went beautifully and the experience was unbelievable." Speaking of his own procedure, Mr McBean said: "I couldn't believe it when I was told I was one of the patients getting surgery around the anniversary. "I feel like I know the surgery so I wasn't nervous." He added: "It was amazing and I am absolutely in awe of the team. "It's amazing that over the course of my lifetime this operation has been finessed, and it's nice to be a part of the history of the hospital." Sir Harold, the creator of the procedure, made his medical breakthrough after treating a Spitfire pilot who had splinters of acrylic in his eye. He noticed that unlike most other foreign material, the eye did not reject this type of plastic. At the time, Sir Harold's invention was considered radical and was initially resisted by much of the medical profession - but over time it has become the most common eye operation in the world. Today, the surgery takes only 15 to 30 minutes per eye, and patients are discharged within hours. To celebrate 75 years since its invention, ophthalmologists at Guy's and St Thomas' unveiled a portrait of Sir Harold Ridley gifted to the hospital by the Ridley Eye Foundation. Dr Sancy Low, the consultant ophthalmic surgeon who performed Mr McBean's surgery, said: "The story of Sir Harold Ridley's journey is an incredible reminder of how we can bring light to the world, changing the lives of John, Freda and millions worldwide." Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to Cancer survivor reunited with life-saving optician Woman, 88, gets bionic eye implant Hundreds of cataract surgeries in 'Covid catch-up' Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
BBC News
08-02-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Couple help NHS mark 75 years of cataract surgery
The NHS is celebrating 75 years of cataract surgery, an operation which helps restore operation involves removing a lens - a small transparent disc inside the eye - that has become cloudy and replacing it with one made out of acrylic plastic. Without the operation, the cloudy vision can lead to blurry vision and eventually blindness. Roughly half of those over the age of 60 have some degree of it was first offered at St Thomas' Hospital in 1950, nearly one billion cataract surgeries are estimated to have taken place across the world. One couple from south-east London who have undertaken the procedure is John and Freda McBean."I am already feeling better and can see more brightness than I could see before," said Mr McBean, a retired deputy teacher from Chislehurst. About 10 years ago, he tore his retina and during the procedure to fix it, the surgeon noticed a cataract was starting to form. Over the last five years, Mr McBean's vision deteriorated leading him to have cataract surgery on his left eye in February to remove the cloudy said he was not nervous as his wife had the operation on both eyes last year. Mrs McBean, 72, said her vision was now excellent, and that she only needed reading glasses for very fine retired primary school teacher said: "The surgery went beautifully and the experience was unbelievable." Speaking of his own procedure, Mr McBean said: "I couldn't believe it when I was told I was one of the patients getting surgery around the anniversary."I feel like I know the surgery so I wasn't nervous."He added: "It was amazing and I am absolutely in awe of the team. "It's amazing that over the course of my lifetime this operation has been finessed, and it's nice to be a part of the history of the hospital." Sir Harold, the creator of the procedure, made his medical breakthrough after treating a Spitfire pilot who had splinters of acrylic in his eye. He noticed that unlike most other foreign material, the eye did not reject this type of the time, Sir Harold's invention was considered radical and was initially resisted by much of the medical profession - but over time it has become the most common eye operation in the world. Today, the surgery takes only 15 to 30 minutes per eye, and patients are discharged within hours. To celebrate 75 years since its invention, ophthalmologists at Guy's and St Thomas' unveiled a portrait of Sir Harold Ridley gifted to the hospital by the Ridley Eye Sancy Low, the consultant ophthalmic surgeon who performed Mr McBean's surgery, said: "The story of Sir Harold Ridley's journey is an incredible reminder of how we can bring light to the world, changing the lives of John, Freda and millions worldwide."
