Cirque du Soleil: Delirium

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - There's new advice for older men who want to preserve their sexual function: have sex, and have it often, researchers say. In a study that followed nearly 1,000 older Finnish men for five years, researchers found that those who were regularly having sex at the start of the study were at lower risk of developing erectile dysfunction (Buy Viagra) by the study's end. In fact, the more often the men had sex, the lower their Buy Generic Viagra risk. The implication, say the researchers, is that men should be encouraged to stay sexually active into their golden years. Dr. Juha Koskimaki and colleagues at the University of Tampere in Finland report the findings in the American Journal of Medicine. The study included 989 men who were between the ages of 55 and 75 at the outset. Overall, those who said they had sex less than once per week were twice as likely to develop ED over the next five years as men who had sex at least once a week. Furthermore, compared with men who had sex three or more times per week, their Order Viagra risk was increased nearly four-fold. A number of factors contribute to ED development, many of which could also affect a man's sexually activity -- such as age, diabetes and heart disease. However, after taking account of those factors, sexual activity itself remained linked to Cheap Viagra risk, Koskimaki's team found. It may be a matter of "use it or lose it," according to the researchers. Just as exercise boosts physical fitness, they note, regular sexual activity may help a man preserve his erectile function. buy viagra online occurs when there are problems with blood flow to the penis. Regular sexual activity, Koskimaki's team writes, may help maintain healthy blood vessel function in the erectile tissue. SOURCE: American Journal of Medicine, July 2008.

Cirque du Soleil: Delirium

Cirque du Soleil: it’s like buses. You wait years to see it and then three come along at once. So it was that last night we found ourselves at the O2 watching Delirium, just a few weeks after Varekai at the Royal Albert Hall.

It was a good show. Very different to any we had seen before, as it was less about acrobatics, and more about singing and dancing all mixed up with massive on-screen graphics. It was totally indecipherable, as all Cirque du Soleil is if you don’t read the programme, but perfectly entertaining if you give in to it, sit back and enjoy.

It’s basically the story of a guy suspended from a balloon who floats around a mythical, magical world meeting lots of strange characters. That’s what you see on stage, anyway. What you’re not told - unless you read the programme - is that it’s an allegory. He is a regular, everyday guy who, like the rest of us, has great pressures on his time. And so he retreats into a fantasy, which is where we join him on stage.

It was interesting seeing it at the O2. First because I’ve not been in the arena bit since it was the Dome (although I have been in the outer ring of restaurants since its reopening when they made a lame attempt at an indoor beach last summer). And second, because it was the first time we had seen Cirque du Soleil flat-on, rather than in the round.

I’m glad it wasn’t our first time ever to watch it, as I think it suffered on that point. Circus is all about a performance in the middle of the crowd. Circus tents are round, and they centre on a ring. Somehow Delirium lost something by being presented front and centre, on a massive stage and screens that sliced the arena in half, hiding the furthest seats from view. You felt quite detached from it, which you don’t in the Royal Albert Hall where every seat is a front row seat.

Yet it was a fun night, with good company, good drinks and good food, and despite the flat-on presentation I’d recommend the show.

I’d also recommend the venue, and that surprised me more than anything.

If you liked that post, then try these...

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The kitchen floor on November 21st, 2007

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 19th, 2008 at 4:20 pm and is filed under Journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Cirque du Soleil: Delirium”

James Spinks Says:
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:09 am
Yup, I was pretty disappointed too. After seeing them in Vegas (”O”) doing the full acrobatic schtick, this seemed to be a bit of a let down.