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The Locks Market: The Truth Behind the Business of Hair Extensions

2009-03-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

By Katherine Zoepf

There's just no way around it -- the bald women are alarming-looking. In this small city in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, they're also everywhere: grandmothers and gawky teenagers and pretty young matrons by the hairless hundreds, walking along the road or squashed into the backs of minibuses or waiting cross-legged in the shade in front of the municipal train station. It's impossible to look directly at them, at first. Despite their gold jewelry and bright saris, their palely gleaming scalps call to mind prisoners, cancer patients, inmates of a 19th-century insane asylum.

The women -- and men, too, though the sight of men with freshly shaved heads is far less startling -- are religious pilgrims visiting Tirumala, a temple of the Vaishnava sect of Hinduism high in the red granite hills above the town of Tirupati. Since the ninth century, devout Hindus have been coming here to pay their respects to the resident deity, Lord Venkateswara, one of the forms of the god Vishnu. And for many of these pilgrims, a visit to the temple is not complete without tonsuring -- a ritual shaving off of all their hair as a gesture of devotion and gratitude to the god. These devotees believe that if they give up their hair, the god will grant them any wish. But in recent years, the practice of tonsuring -- aided by the implacable forces of globalization -- has also helped to make Tirumala into one of the richest religious pilgrimage sites in the world.

For the reason, look no further than the pages of the nearest celebrity gossip weekly. The lush, high-quality hair extensions beloved by celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Britney Spears, and Jessica Simpson have helped create a soaring Western demand for "temple hair," as it is often called. Temple hair most often comes from Tirumala, by far the largest of the South Indian temples where tonsuring is practiced. And at Tirumala, the glossy, healthy, waistlength hair from the heads of young Indian women -- women who typically have not cut their hair since early childhood, and who have never allowed anything harsher than fresh coconut oil and herbal Ayurvedic soap to touch it -- fetches the highest prices.

Brett Butcher, the national program director for the American arm of the Italy-based high-end hair-extensions maker Great Lengths, is rhapsodic as he describes the strength and beauty of temple hair. Even after it has been sorted, cleaned, processed, stripped of color, recolored one of 56 available hues, stitched into extensions, curled or straightened, and bonded to a woman's natural hair, extensions made with temple hair can last for up to six months, all the while being brushed, washed, and styled just as if they were their wearer's own strands.

"It's the highest-quality hair that's available to the mass market in the world," Butcher says. "And the best part is that it's donated by these women, to pay tribute at the temples."

In fact, it can feel a little disconcerting for a foreign visitor to see just how freely thousands of women do give up their hair at Tirumala each day. In the temple's main tonsuring room, a line of women wait, barefoot, on a white tile floor that is grimy, slippery, and strewn with matted clumps of hair. The women are wearing their festival best, saris and shalwar kameez in shades of shocking pink or turquoise or tangerine, and some of them have garlands of jasmine wound around their long braids. One by one the women sit on the floor before a line of five impassive-looking female barbers with towels spread across their laps. One by one they lower their heads forward over the tiled floor.

The barbers are brisk, businesslike. They scarcely look up as they work, periodically dunking the razors in buckets of cold water and taking care to scrape off even the fine hair on the nape of a woman's neck or below her ears. On average, the temple goes through 50,000 blades a day. One by one the women stand up, staggering slightly, perhaps dizzy as the blood rushes from their heads. Their hair -- vast quantities of it -- is being swept into giant steel bins, about eight feet high and roughly twice the diameter of a standard New York City trash can. But most of the women leave the room quickly and don't even turn around to look. If they're aware that anything happens to their hair after they leave, they don't show it.

Teams of men empty the steel bins, methodically stuffing skein after skein of hair into burlap sacks. The sacks of hair are then brought to a central collection point -- several Quonset hut-shaped warehouses behind the temple's main marketing office -- where the hair is spread out and dried. An unmistakably scalpy coconut-oil smell emanates from the wide-gauge screen windows of these vast storage sheds. Inside, the dark piles of human hair are waist-deep.

Good-quality hair -- typically from young women -- that is more than 16 inches long can sell for 12,000 rupees (around $245) per kilogram or more, says Mayoor Balsara, who heads SDTC Exports, an independent company that buys temple hair from Tirumala, does part of its processing, then sells it to Great Lengths. "Because they understand that hair has value, they take great care that it's collected and stored in a proper manner," Balsara says of Tirumala's administrators. (SDTC Exports monitors the temple's storage procedures.) And for good reason: "We call it black gold," says O. Balaji, the chief accounts officer of the Tirumala temple, proudly. After the hair is dried, it is sorted into grades, depending on its length. The price for temple hair has more than tripled over the past five years, thanks to the burgeoning hair-extension industry -- a fact that "was really a big surprise for us," Balaji says. "Really now it is fetching a good amount. The hair must be given lots of importance here because of the amount of revenue it produces. Our deity is now the richest deity in the world."

Three or four times a year, the hair collected at Tirumala is sold at auction. Approximately 500 tons of human hair is sold per year, Balsara says. Before the hair extensions craze began, about ten years ago, the hair was sold to wigmakers or to furniture companies as mattress stuffing -- but far less of it was sold, and for far less money. The hair now brings the temple 100 crore rupees (approximately $20.6 million) annually. The money, Balsara says, is all poured back into the temple and the community: providing the free meal that each needy pilgrim is eligible to receive upon a visit to the temple, for example, and supporting local hospitals and religious schools.

"My favorite thing about Great Lengths, which I just love, love, love, is that the hair is a huge source of revenue for these needy communities," Butcher says. (Great Lengths is not the only company that buys hair originating from Tirumala -- hair extensions makers and wigmakers worldwide purchase temple hair -- but it is the biggest.) "The temple funds schools and medical centers," Butcher says. "It maybe looks a little brutal when you see the hair being cut off, but the pilgrims feel that it's really an honor for them to do this."

Fair enough, but are the female pilgrims to Tirumala -- whose hair fetches the money -- aware of what their hair is worth, or of the simple fact that it's being sold in the first place?

In the warm morning sunlight outside the tonsuring room, the mood among all the so-called "tonsure pilgrims" -- the roughly 10 percent of visitors to Tirumala who donate their hair -- has lightened, now that the ritual is complete. Hindu holy Muzak plays in the background and families mill around the gift shops, gardens, and snack stalls outside the main temple. Small children are wailing -- after having their own hair cut off or perhaps confronting a bald mother for the first time -- and the passersby shoot their parents warm, understanding looks. But among the adults, there seems to be a sense of giddiness and shared relief that the tonsuring ordeal has passed.

Para Sakthi, a 40-year-old pilgrim wearing a fuchsia sari and a large gold nose ring and clutching her 6-year-old daughter, Manju, by the hand, explains that she and Manju were both tonsured that morning as a gesture of thanks for the health of their cow.

"We had a cow at home that was sick," explains Sakthi, who is from the city of Vellore, in Tamil Nadu. "Everyone was earning money from the cow -- that cow supported us all. We asked God to please heal our cow, and it worked. Now our cow is better, so we have come to Tirumala."

Asked how long her hair had been before making her pilgrimage to Tirumala for tonsuring, Sakthi grins broadly and gestures at a point on her lower thigh. "I wanted to offer it to God," she says. "I have grown my hair since childhood. If you have a problem and God helps, this is what you do."

Sakthi furrows her brow momentarily when asked if she knows that the hair from tonsurings at Tirumala is later sold to make hair extensions. When told that hair extensions can cost as much as $3,000 at salons in the United States -- more than triple the average yearly per capita income in India, just over $800 -- her smile vanishes. She rolls her eyes skyward.

"Well, I didn't know this, that our hair was sold," Sakthi says. "But it doesn't bother me as long as the money goes to God."

But the money certainly doesn't all go to the temple. After the hair is sold at temple auctions to Indian hair brokers, it typically is sold to factories in India where it is sorted by length and goes through the first stages of cleaning, fumigating, and processing. Then it is sold to wigmakers or hair-extensions makers, who process the hair further at facilities in Tunisia and Italy. From there, it is sold to distributors in dozens of countries around the world, who in turn sell the hair extensions to salons. All involved take a cut.

After their tonsuring, Sakthi and Manju join the line to get into the main temple. "Doing darshan," as viewing the statue of Lord Venkateswara in the temple's inner sanctum is called, typically follows the head-shaving ritual and can take 14 hours or more. It is a deeply emotional experience for many pilgrims. When, after a very long day in line (darshan is a strictly shoes-off affair, and there's lots of murky standing water -- with the occasional rat and submerged rock), the pilgrims come within sight of the statue, many burst into tears. So many pilgrims try to sink to their knees, or even faint, in front of the statue that temple workers sometimes physically push the crowd along.

In the train station, two sisters from Hyderabad, 25-year-old Rana and 26-year-old Mangamma, shriek with laughter and clutch each other in disbelief when told, in brief, about the economics of the hair-extensions industry, with the $3,000 figure translated into Indian rupees. Both sisters wear pretty paisley scarves tied kerchief-style over their newly bald heads; both say that their hair had reached below their waists until that morning.

Mangamma claps her hands over her mouth, then over her ears. "I didn't know this!" she exclaims, and repeats herself several times. "I didn't know!" Rana, with delicately arched brows and enormous brown eyes, recovers her composure more quickly. She asks again for an explanation of what hair extensions are and why exactly Western women like Indian hair so much. Then she nods, as if it all suddenly makes perfect sense. "It is for the god, and we are happy," Rana says firmly.

There is a moment of awkwardness as Mangamma absorbs her sister's words and nods slowly. Has her joy in the Tirumala pilgrimage been spoiled with crass talk of the international hair trade, the extensions industry, the coloring and processing and fumigating and stitching that the sisters' heartfelt sacrifice will soon undergo?

But Rana does indeed seem serenely happy: intrigued and flattered to learn that the beauty of Indian hair is known and appreciated by Hollywood celebrities, and even more proud of the gift she's just offered to her beloved deity.

Of course, thousands of young women like her aren't aware of what happens to their Tirumala sacrifice, their beautiful hair. Would it matter to them? Would they want to know? And if they don't know, and are happy, should it matter to us?

The hair-extensions industry has made it easy to get lush tresses. Answering the moral questions it raises is more complicated.

Morgan Freeman discharged from hospital

2008-08-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

By Associated Press

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Morgan Freeman was discharged Thursday from a Tennessee hospital after the Oscar-winning actor was treated for broken bones and other injuries sustained in a weekend car crash in Mississippi.

Kathy Stringer, a spokeswoman for the Regional Medical Center, said Freeman was discharged but gave no other details.

The 71-year-old actor was hospitalized after the accident Sunday left him with a broken arm, broken elbow and shoulder damage.

Demaris Meyer, 48, of Memphis, a passenger in the car driven by Freeman, was also injured in the crash.

Accesss Hollywood reported Wednesday that Freeman's lawyer, Bill Luckett, said Freeman and his wife of 24 years, Myrna Colley-Lee, had been separated since December and are getting a divorce. Luckett was also quoted in several newspapers Thursday, but did not give further details.

There was no answer Thursday at phone numbers for Luckett or for Freeman's publicist, Donna Lee.

No divorce papers have been filed in Tallahatchie County where Freeman owns a home with Colley-Lee, according to Tallahatchie County Chancery Clerk Anita Mullen Greenwood.

Actor Morgan Freeman is critically injured in car accident

2008-08-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

By HOLBROOK MOHR, Associated Press Writer

Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman is in a hospital in Memphis, Tenn., on Monday after being seriously injured in a car accident near his home in Mississippi.

Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Kathy Stringer said Freeman, 71, is in serious condition. The hospital is about 90 miles north of the accident scene in rural Tallahatchie County in the Mississippi Delta.

Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Ben Williams said Freeman was driving a 1997 Nissan Maxima belonging to Demaris Meyer of Memphis when the car left a rural highway and flipped several times shortly before midnight Sunday.

"There's no indication that either alcohol or drugs were involved," Williams said. He said both Freeman and Meyer were wearing seat belts. The woman's condition was not immediately available.

Freeman was airlifted to the hospital in Tennessee.

Clay McFerrin, editor of Sun Sentinel in Charleston, said he arrived at the accident scene on Mississippi Highway 32 soon after it happened about 5 miles west of Charleston, not far from where Freeman owns a home with his wife.

McFerrin said it appeared that Freeman's car was airborne when it left the highway and landed in a ditch.

"They had to use the jaws of life to extract him from the vehicle," McFerrin said. "He was lucid, conscious. He was talking, joking with some of the rescue workers at one point."

McFerrin said bystanders converged on the scene trying to get a glimpse of the actor.

When one person tried to snap a photo with a cell phone camera, Freeman joked, "no freebies, no freebies," McFerrin said.

Freeman won an Oscar for his role in "Million Dollar Baby." His screen credits also include "The Shawshank Redemption," "Driving Miss Daisy" and "The Dark Knight," now in theaters.

He was born in Memphis, Tenn., but spent much of his childhood in the Mississippi Delta. He is a co-owner of the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale.

The hospital where Freeman is being treated is commonly known as The Med, and is an acute-care teaching facility that serves patients within 150 miles of Memphis.

Cruise tries to reshape image on Oprah

2008-05-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

By Tom Shales

Sofa, So Good: Tom Cruise's Mission: Oprah

"I never stop learning," Tom Cruise boasted proudly from his corner of the couch, and Oprah Winfrey beamed back at him from hers. Together again on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (but this time on Cruise's couch) for their first powwow since Cruise made like a jumping jack three years ago, the two superstars put their heads together and tried to effect a little Cruise control.

Since leaping about on Winfrey's studio furniture as he declared undying love for third wife Katie Holmes, Cruise has bumbled through a series of embarrassing antics and tarnished his status as a box office barnstormer. Winfrey obligingly tossed softball questions his way during the first half of a two-part Cruise schmooze broadcast yesterday; Part 2, taped in a studio, airs Monday.

Arriving at the movie star's mountaintop mansion near Telluride, Colo., Winfrey gaped at the postcard views and gushed, "I want to weep, it's so beautiful." She hugged Katie and Tom in the mudroom -- where a pair of personalized moccasins awaited Winfrey's arrival-- and then got a tour of the woodsy house from Cruise, Holmes quickly making herself scarce. She and Cruise had made a point of holding hands, however, while on-camera together.

When Cruise showed Winfrey a collection of his movie scripts handsomely bound in leather, Winfrey exclaimed, "This is the coolest thing!" When he showed Winfrey his daughter Suri's miniature office, Winfrey shouted, "Oh, my God" and "Oh, that is perfect, Tom." Thrilled to pieces by the family kitchen, Winfrey said, "Oh, I love a great kitchen" and "It's so normal! It's so kitchen-like!"

The tour eventually over, Tom & Oprah took to the couch for questions about Cruise's behavior, starting with what Winfrey solemnly called "the sofa incident" of 2005.

"I was like, 'Wow, what was that?' " Winfrey recalled. "If you could take it back," she asked Cruise, "would you still jump on the sofa?"

Cruise said, "It was a moment and it was real" and "I just felt that way. . . . That was just how I felt."

So apparently the answer is yes.

Cruise tried teasing Winfrey: "You were egging me on," he said. "You were egging me on. . . . You were egging me on."

Finally he said that what he was feeling that day was hard to put into words, though that seems true of almost every feeling he has. "I can't even articulate it," he said. "It's something I just can't articulate."

Winfrey brought up other shenanigans Cruise has perpetrated in recent years, like offering unsolicited medical and psychiatric opinions on the "Today" show about postpartum depression to Brooke Shields and advising her to follow the dictates of Scientology, to which Cruise subscribes.

"What happened to you in that interview?" asked Winfrey, who then offered up a potential excuse. "Had you had enough sleep?" Said Cruise: "I was pressed." Of his drum-banging on behalf of his church, Cruise said, "I'm not trying to tell anyone how they should lead their life," adding that Scientologists don't do that because "we're here to help."

But Cruise's troubles continued. The paparazzi who stalked the actor night and day were becoming more brazen, especially as rumors circulated that the Cruises were about to begin a family. Poor Tom, said Winfrey: "It was really like being hunted like a dog."

She said the rumors "spun into something unimaginable," and Cruise imaginatively added, "Unimaginable, really."

After someone at a doctor's office leaked the results of his wife's pregnancy test to "the media," Cruise decided to set up a better defense. He bought a sonogram machine and talked Holmes's doctor into coming to their house. An unauthorized biography of Cruise, Winfrey said, implied that little Suri wasn't even really Cruise's child, while mean old gossipmongers made such nasty cracks as comparing the newborn child to "Rosemary's Baby." Even nastier wisecrackers spread rumors that the baby was "deformed."

Through this recitation of misfortunes, Cruise maintained his composure; in fact, he usually managed to flash his somewhat nightmarish grin no matter how discomforting the memories.

Strangely, though, Winfrey didn't really grill Cruise on the biggest crisis of all: Fed up with Cruise's cuckoo behavior, Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone, well-known crotchety billionaire, "fired" Cruise by ending the relationship between the actor's production company and Paramount Pictures, one of Viacom's media properties.

"His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount," Redstone said -- apparently with a straight face, though coming up with a definition of Conduct Unbecoming a Movie Star would be the neatest trick of the week. Winfrey didn't mention this, nor the fact that public displeasure with Cruise's obnoxiousness resulted in a lower box office take than expected for "Mission: Impossible III," Cruise's latest action thriller.

Said Redstone of his own wife's attitude toward Cruise: "Paula, like women everywhere, had come to hate him." Cruise, meanwhile, didn't mention Redstone or Paramount during the interview. He was seen earlier this year having lunch with Redstone in the Polo Lounge of the Beverly Hills Hotel, sparking rumors of a reconciliation -- and perhaps of a "Mission Impossible: IV."

Maybe Winfrey will get into this kind of thing during the second part of what is auspiciously billed as "The Tom Cruise Interview." Part 1 was really devoted more to personal, warm, cute-puppy stuff -- as when the subject turned to Suri, who was off somewhere sleeping.

"Let's talk about that baby girl of yours," said Winfrey.

"She really is just magic," said Cruise.

"Magical is a great way to explain it," Winfrey said a little later. But Cruise had another way: "There are moments of real joy. Yeah, joy. She's just [pause] joy," he said, searching for the right word. He told a long story about dressing up as Santa Claus one Christmas and appearing at the front door. When he got to the punch line, he sounded like any other proud papa anywhere in the world: "And Suri looks at me and she says, 'No, Dah-Dah'!" Cruise said, exploding in laughter.

He thought that was easily the cutest, funniest, sweetest little old thing in the world, or so it appeared.

Earlier, Winfrey had announced an urgent need to "pee" as a way of breaking for a commercial. Near the end of the hour, she stuck a bare foot into the camera lens to demonstrate how "comfortable" she felt even though, she told Cruise, "I swear, driving up here, my heart started palpitating -- and it wasn't the altitude." Oh, come on, Oprah; are you saying you were just all a-flutter about confronting Tom Cruise again? Give me a break. Better yet, give me $20 million; you'll never miss it.

When last seen, Winfrey was zooming off into snowy woods on the back of Cruise's snowmobile, the actor handling the driving. "You've gotten to live your dream," she'd told Cruise earlier. "You've gotten to live your dream." Looking again at the vastness of the vista, she misted up and turned to Cruise.

"I wish for you the peace that this mountain can bring," Winfrey said. "I wish this for you. I really do." She seemed to be waiting for a heavenly choir to sing the words she'd just spoken, but none showed up.

Mariah Carey marries actor Nick Cannon

2008-05-03T07:35:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! Movies

NEW YORK - Nick Cannon is cast as Mariah Carey's lover in her new video but has the superstar diva given the young actor a considerably bigger role in real life?

According to several published reports, Carey, 38, married Cannon, 27, on Wednesday. Neither Carey's publicist nor Cannon's manager returned requests from The Associated Press for comment.

If the pair did indeed wed, it would be a whirlwind romance. Word that the two were seeing each other first surfaced in the past few weeks. Last Saturday, Carey was seen sporting a huge diamond ring on her finger at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of her movie, "Tennessee," in which she plays a waitress. Cannon was at her side at the party. Speculation swirled that the couple were engaged.

Latina.com was first to report that the two got married, at Carey's home in the Bahamas. Friday's New York Post also had the pair wed. People magazine on its Web site Friday quoted a clergyman, Bishop Clifford Petty of the National Church of God in the Caribbean, as saying he presided over the wedding.

E Online quoted a relative of Cannon's as saying that he called his family and confirmed the news.

"He called us and told us all about it. We are happy for him. If that is what he wants, then we are happy for him," Linda Cannon, identified simply as a family member, was quoted telling E.

People reported Friday that Carey had obtained a marriage license on the island of Eleuthera, in the Bahamas, where she has an estate.

Cannon has put out a rap album but is best known for his role in the movie "Drumline" and a Nickelodeon TV series (yes, Nickelodeon Cannon is 11 years Carey's junior). He's featured in Carey's upcoming video for "Bye Bye."

While Carey and Cannon (or is it the Cannons?) were playing coy, the famed jeweler Jacob & Co. was quick to publicize its apparent role in the reputed union with a news release touting the ring Cannon reportedly gave her.

The release described it as "crafted from platinum and features a square emerald cut fancy light pink diamond as the center stone surrounded by 58 intense pink diamonds and two half moon diamonds on each side.

"The total carat weight of the ring center stone is 10 carats is a jaw-dropping 17 carats with a value of $2.5 million."

Cannon does have experience with engagement rings. The actor, who has previously romanced singer Christina Milian and voluptuous reality star Kim Kardashian, last year gave a 15-carat stone to Victoria's Secret model Selita Ebanks as he proposed in grand fashion on the Jumbotron in New York's Times Square. Cameras were flashing as she said yes. They split just a few months later.

The Carey-Cannon match is already getting considerably more ink, leaving some to wonder whether it's a publicity stunt: After all, she's just released a No. 1 album ("EMC2" is on the top of the charts), and he has at least four movies due out this year.

But then again, Carey is one of the most successful artists in music, and hardly needs a marriage to get attention: She's already scored a No. 1 hit off the album with "Touch My Body."

This would be Cannon's first marriage but Carey's second. She famously wed top music executive Tommy Mottola in an extravagant wedding in 1993. They had a bitter divorce in 1998.

Actress SJP wears £4.50 dress to premiere

2008-05-02T14:23:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! News (Yahoo! Movies - UK & IRELAND)

What would Carrie say? SJP steps out in £4.50 dress

Her Sex and the City character Carrie Bradshaw is famed for sporting stylish and expensive outfits, but Sarah Jessica Parker showed her thrifty side, stepping out at a recent premiere wearing a £4.50 dress.

The actress wore the budget frock, which is cheaper than a cinema ticket for the forthcoming SATC movie, at the premiere of Then She Found Me in New York last week.

The budget blue and white strapless gown is part of her own Bitten label, which is available in US fashion chain Steve + Barry. She said, "I had never heard of Steve + Barry's (before signing up with them), and I didn't know anyone else who had. But I loved their manifesto and ideas."

Other items in the range include jeans, dresses, jumpers and shoes, and they all sell for less than a fiver.

Beyonce and Jay-Z finally tie the knot

2008-04-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! News

US singer and actress Beyonce has married her longtime companion, hip-hop mogul Jay-Z, at a private ceremony in New York, People magazine reported on its website Saturday.

The weekly quoted an unidentified friend of the couple as saying the couple had tied the knot at Jay-Z's penthouse apartment in the exclusive Tribeca area of the city late on Friday.

"Jay wanted it to be a really private affair -- close friends and family," it quoted the friend as saying.

Guests at the party, which was reportedly decorated with more than 50,000 white orchids flown in from Thailand, included former Destiny's Child members Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, and the couple's friend Gwyneth Paltrow.

Speculation had mounted since earlier this week that the couple were about to tie the knot after it was reported they had just taken out a marriage license -- good for 60 days -- in New York state.

Beyonce, 26, found stardom with the R&B group Destiny's Child before embarking on a solo music career in 2003 with the album "Dangerously in Love."

Her second album "B'day" was released in September 2006. Also an actress, she starred as Foxxy Cleopatra in "Austin Powers in Goldmember," going on to appear in the latest "The Pink Panther" movie and "Dreamgirls."

Jay-Z, 38, born Shawn Carter, was head of Def Jam records and has sold more than 35 million albums as a rapper since 1996.

He was this week reported to be on the verge of signing a 150 million dollar deal with concert promoter Live Nation -- which would be one of the biggest ever deals in the music business.

Anna Nicole Smith's son died from accidental overdose

2008-03-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

CNN - NASSAU, Bahamas (AP)

A Bahamas jury ruled Monday that Anna Nicole Smith's son died from an accidental drug overdose, just like his mother.

The seven-member jury, which deliberated for less than two hours, recommended no criminal charges in the September 2006 death of 20-year-old Daniel Smith.

The son of the former Playboy playmate died after coming to the Bahamas to meet his new baby sister on Sept. 10, 2006. His mother died early the next year in Florida from an accidental drug overdose at age 39.

Police had said there was no evidence of homicide, and autopsies found that Daniel died from a combination of drugs, including methadone and antidepressants. But Bahamian authorities ordered the inquest amid widespread speculation over the circumstances surrounding his death.

In its ruling, the jury said the cause of death was "nondependent use of drugs," meaning that Daniel Smith was not addicted and was not aware the drugs in his system would kill him.

Neil McCabe, an attorney for Anna Nicole's mother, Virgie Arthur, said she was disappointed in the ruling because she suspected foul play was involved. Arthur has claimed previously that Anna Nicole's boyfriend and attorney Howard K. Stern played a role in both deaths, but she did not provide evidence.

"We don't think it makes any sense," McCabe said. "The boy was not a drug user, the judge said so. Why would he all of a sudden take a massive dose of methadone?"

Stern, who has denied giving Daniel any drugs, said outside court that he was not sure whether the jury's decision would bring an end to the case.

"I have no control over them," he said of Arthur and her attorneys.

Magistrate William Campbell said the jury's decision ended the case as far the courts in the Bahamas were concerned.

The inquest began in November and heard from more than two dozen witnesses

Anna Nicole's former boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, testified that Daniel was a troubled young man who struggled with drugs and alcohol. But Stern said he was surprised at the autopsy report and said he had never seen Daniel using drugs.

Stern, who came to the Bahamas with Anna Nicole during her pregnancy in 2006, initially claimed he was the father of her infant daughter, Dannielynn, He gave up custody last spring after DNA tests proved Birkhead was the father.

Dannielynn has been named the sole heir of her late mother's estate, with Birkhead and Stern as co-trustees. Dannielynn could inherit millions of dollars if the estate wins an ongoing court fight over the oil fortune of Anna Nicole's late second husband, J. Howard Marshall.

Seven (7) Reasons Women Lose Their Hair

2008-03-31T09:39:00.000-07:00

By Leslie Baumann, M.D.

Let me make one thing clear: women, if you are experiencing hair loss, please know that you are not alone!

Women's hair can thin for a variety of reasons, and yet the topic is still far less openly discussed than male hair loss. In many cases, though, the causes are diagnosable and treatable, making it particularly important that women discuss hair loss with their doctors. First, let's consider some common factors that can cause and contribute to hair loss:

Low iron levels: Iron deficiency, with or without anemia, can lead to hair loss. Do not simply start taking an iron supplement without having your iron checked by a physician because too much iron can also lead to health problems.

Thyroid disorders: Both an overactive and an underactive thyroid can lead to hair loss.

Low estrogen levels: Many women experience hair loss during and after menopause, when estrogen levels begin to drop. Other hormonal changes -- changes in oral contraceptive use, for example -- can also trigger hair loss.

Post-pregnancy hormonal changes: Similarly, new moms may find that they're shedding a lot of hair in the first one to six months after delivery, when their estrogen levels return to normal. Actually, what seems like excessive hair loss is really hair's natural growth cycle regulating itself, as high hormone levels tend to keep women from losing normal amounts of hair during pregnancy.

Telogen effluvium: This is the general term for sudden, temporary hair loss as a result of recent stress or surgery, which typically occurs around two months after the causative event or illness. (It may also be used to describe sudden hair loss as a result of other factors on this list, such as post-pregnancy hormonal changes.)

Medications: Many medications may lead to hair loss. If this is a concern, talk to your doctor about potential alternatives

High levels of vitamin A or selenium: There is rarely any reason to take more of these nutrients than you'd find in a good multivitamin.

Several recent studies of men have found that smoking also seems to increase hair loss. I don't know of any similar studies in women, but one thing is clear: Smoking is harmful for a multitude of reasons, whether or not increased hair loss is among them!

The best plan of action for anyone experiencing hair loss is to determine the underlying cause and eliminate it. And the best place to start is a routine physical exam with blood work. By simply drawing your blood, your physician can determine your ferritin (iron) levels, thyroid levels, and estrogen status - and that will already get you far in recognizing or ruling out many of these causes.

If your physician does not uncover a reversible cause for the hair loss, though, it may be the unavoidable result of genetics. But there are still products that can help stimulate re-growth:

Rogaine (the trade name for the drug minoxidil), which is applied directly to the scalp, causes dilation of blood vessels and increased blood flow to the scalp. As a result, the hair follicle gets better nutrients and oxygen and the shrunken hair follicles become larger and hair grows thicker. Women who are pregnant or breast-feeding should not use Rogaine.

Propecia (the trade name for the drug finasteride) is sold in pill form and inhibits the conversion of testosterone (which women have in small amounts) to DHT (or dihydrotestosterone), a hormone that gradually shrinks hair follicles and causes them to have shorter growth cycles. Though only FDA-approved for male pattern hair loss, Propecia may also help patterned hair loss in women. (Pregnant women or women who are planning to become pregnant, however, should never take Propecia.) Studies evaluating the efficacy of Propecia in women have been contradictory so it does not work in all women.

Both of these treatments work only as long as you use them, though; once treatment is discontinued, hair will typically return to its pre-treatment thickness. Stay tuned to hear about a new light treatment in a comb that may improve hair loss.

Wishing you great hair!

Abba drummer found dead in his garden

2008-03-18T08:57:00.001-07:00

Yahoo! News (Yahoo! Music)

A former drummer for the Swedish pop band ABBA was found dead with cuts to his neck in the garden of his house on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Police said Monday an autopsy showed it was an accident.

A neighbor found the body of 62-year-old Ola Brunkert on Sunday evening at his house in a coastal area outside the eastern town of Arta, a Civil Guard spokesman told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

He said an autopsy was carried out and confirmed initial investigations. "It was an accident," he said.
The spokesman said Brunkert hit his head against a glass door in his dining room, shattering the glass and cutting himself in the neck. He managed to wrap a towel around his neck and left the house to seek help, but collapsed in the garden.

Brunkert lived in the coastal apartment complex of Betlem in the municipality of Arta, in the eastern part of Mallorca.

Brunkert had lived in Arta for around 20 years. His wife, Inger. died less than a year ago, an Arta municipal official told the AP. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss the case.

ABBA band member Benny Anderson told Swedish daily Expressen he was sad to hear of the drummer's death. "It is tragic," he said.

Band member Bjorn Ulvaeus added that Brunkert had been "one of the best."

"I remember him as a good friend when we worked together in the mid-1970s. He was a very creative musician who contributed a lot when we toured together and worked in the studio," Ulvaeus told Expressen.

According to ABBA's official Web site, Brunkert and bass player Rutger Gunnarsson were the only musicians to appear on all ABBA albums.

Brunkert first played with ABBA on the group's first single, "People Need Love," and toured with the band in 1977, 1979 and 1980.

He had been a jazz drummer and a member of the blues band Slim's Blues Gang, before joining pop group Science Poption in the mid-1960s.

ABBA, with the four regular members Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Ulvaeus and Andersson, was one of the world's most successful bands, with album sales of more than 370 million. The group has not performed together since 1982, but continues to sell nearly 3 million records a year.

Nepal's controversial "living goddess" finally retires

2008-03-03T07:31:00.000-08:00

By Gopal Sharma

"Controversial goddess done"

A controversial young Nepali girl worshipped by many Buddhists and Hindus as a Kumari, or "living goddess", has given up her divine position following a request from her family, an official said on Sunday.

The 11-year-old Sajani Shakya was revered for nine years as the Kumari of the ancient temple-town of Bhaktapur, near Kathmandu, in a centuries-old tradition.

"She is no more a Kumari," said Dipak Pandey, a senior official of the state-run Trust Corporation that oversees the cultural affairs in the deeply religious nation.

Pandey said Sajani's family wanted to perform their own religious rituals which required her to give up her divine position and rejoin her family.

Kumaris traditionally retire when they reach the age of menstruation.

Last year, Sajani made international headlines after she visited the United States to promote a film by British company about the ancient practice.

Some religious authorities criticised the trip, saying it was against tradition. They even threatened to strip her of the title, but the threat was later withdrawn.

Under the Kumari tradition a girl selected from a Buddhist Newar family through a rigorous cultural process becomes the "living goddess".

She is considered as an incarnation of the powerful deity Kali and is revered by the Hindus and Buddhists until she menstruates after which she must return to the family and a new one is chosen.

"We are trying to find a replacement for Sajani," Pandey said.

Some human rights activists have petitioned the Supreme Court to end the practice saying it denies the girl her normal life.

The apex court is yet to deliver a judgment.

Japanese firm offers "heartache leave" for staff

2008-01-28T07:58:00.000-08:00

By Chisa Fujioka

Lovelorn staff at a Japanese marketing company can take paid time off after a bad break-up with a partner, with more "heartache leave" on offer as they get older.

Tokyo-based Hime & Company, which also gives staff paid time off to hit the shops during sales season, says heartache leave allows staff to cry themselves out and return to work refreshed. "Not everyone needs to take maternity leave but with heartbreak, everyone needs time off, just like when you get sick," CEO Miki Hiradate, whose company of six women markets cosmetics and other goods targeted for women, told Reuters by telephone.

Staff aged 24 years or younger can take one day off per year, while those between 25 and 29 can take two days off and those older can take three days off, the company said.

"Women in their 20s can find their next love quickly, but it's tougher for women in their 30s, and their break-ups tend to be more serious," Hiradate said.

Hime & Company staff can also take two mornings off twice a year as "sales shopping leave", so they can race to stores to hunt for bargains.

"Before, women could take half-days off to go to sales, but you'd have to hide your shopping bags in lockers by the train station," Hiradate said.

"But with paid leave, we don't have to feel guilty about bringing our shopping bags to work, and we can enjoy the best part about sales shopping -- talking about our purchases afterwards."

Chess Legend Bobby Fischer dies at 64

2008-01-18T11:30:00.000-08:00

By GUDJON HELGASON, Associated Press Writer

REYKJAVIK, Iceland - Bobby Fischer, the reclusive chess genius who became a Cold War hero by dethroning the Soviet world champion in 1972 and later renounced his American citizenship, has died. He was 64.

Fisher died of kidney failure Thursday in a Reykjavik hospital after a long illness, his spokesman, Gardar Sverrisson, said Friday.

Born in Chicago and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Fischer faced criminal charges in the United States for playing a 1992 rematch against Boris Spassky in Yugoslavia in defiance of international sanctions. In 2005, he moved to Iceland, a chess-mad nation and site of his greatest triumph.

As a champion, he used his eccentricities to unsettle opponents, but Fischer's reputation as a genius of chess was soon eclipsed, in the eyes of many, by his idiosyncrasies.

"Chess is war on a board," he once said. "The object is to crush the other man's mind."

Fischer vanished after the 1992 match and occasionally re-emerged to give interviews on a radio station in the Philippines. During one interview, Fischer praised the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, saying America should be "wiped out," and described Jews as "thieving, lying bastards."

Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion from Russia, said Fischer's ascent in the chess world in the 1960s and his promotion of chess worldwide was "a revolutionary breakthrough" for the game.

"The tragedy is that he left this world too early, and his extravagant life and scandalous statements did not contribute to the popularity of chess," Kasparov told The Associated Press.

Fischer lost his world title in 1975 after refusing to defend it against Anatoly Karpov. He dropped out of competitive chess and largely out of view, emerging occasionally to make erratic and often anti-Semitic comments, although his mother was Jewish.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president of the World Chess Federation, called Fischer "a phenomenon and an epoch in chess history, and an intellectual giant I would rank next to Newton and Einstein."

Spassky, reached briefly at his home in France, said of his friend and rival: "I am very sorry, but Bobby Fischer is dead. Goodbye."

An American chess champion at 14 and a grand master at 15, Fischer dethroned Spassky in 1972 in a series of games in Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, to become the first officially recognized world champion born in the United States.

The match, at the height of the Cold War, took on mythic dimensions as a clash between the world's two superpowers.

Fischer played — and won — an exhibition rematch against Spassky on the Yugoslav resort island of Sveti Stefan, but the game was in violation of U.S. sanctions imposed to punish then-President Slobodan Milosevic.

In July 2004, Fischer was arrested at Japan's Narita airport for traveling on a revoked U.S. passport and was threatened with extradition to the United States to face charges of violating sanctions.

He spent nine months in custody before the dispute was resolved when Iceland granted him citizenship and he moved there with his longtime companion, the Japanese chess player Miyoko Watai. She survives him.

In his final years, Fischer railed against the chess establishment, alleging that the outcomes of many top-level chess matches were decided in advance.

Instead, he championed his concept of random chess, in which pieces are shuffled at the beginning of each match in a bid to reinvigorate the game.

"I don't play the old chess," he told reporters when he arrived in Iceland in 2005. "But obviously if I did, I would be the best."

Born March 9, 1943, Robert James Fischer was a child prodigy, playing competitively from age 8.

At 13, he became the youngest player to win the United States Junior Championship. At 14, he won the United States Open Championship for the first of eight times.

At 15, he gained the title of international grand master, the youngest person to hold the title.

Tall, charismatic and with striking looks, he was a chess star — but already gaining a reputation for volatile behavior.

He turned up late for tournaments, walked out of matches, refused to play unless the lighting suited him and was intolerant of photographers and cartoonists. He was convinced of his own superiority and called the Soviets "Commie cheats."

His behavior often unsettled opponents — to Fischer's advantage.

This was seen most famously in the showdown with Spassky in Reykjavik between July and September 1972. Having agreed to play Spassky in Yugoslavia, Fischer raised one objection after another to the arrangements and they wound up playing in Iceland.

When play got under way, days late, Fischer lost the first game with an elementary blunder after discovering that television cameras he had reluctantly accepted were not unseen and unheard, but right behind the players' chairs.

He boycotted the second game and the referee awarded the point to Spassky, putting the Russian ahead 2-0.

But then Spassky agreed to Fischer's demand that the games be played in a back room away from cameras. Fischer went on to beat Spassky, 12.5 points to 8.5 points in 21 games.

Millions of Americans, gripped by the contest, rejoiced in the victory over their Cold War adversary.

In the recent book "White King and Red Queen," the British author Daniel Johnson said the match was "an abstract antagonism on an abstract battleground using abstract weapons ... yet their struggle embraced all human life."

"In Spassky's submission to his fate and Fischer's fierce exultant triumph, the Cold War's denouement was already foreshadowed."

The victory made Fischer the first U.S.-born world champion. Paul Morphy, an American, was regarded as the world's best player from 1858 to 1862, and William Steinetz, an Austrian immigrant to the United States, was an official champion from 1886 to 1894.

Lindsay Lohan to work in morgue as punishment

2008-01-18T11:10:00.000-08:00

Associated Press (Yahoo! Entertainment - omg!)

LOS ANGELES - Lindsay Lohan is about to see dead people.

The 21-year-old actress will soon be working at a morgue as part of her punishment for misdemeanor drunken driving, her attorney, Blair Berk, told a judge Thursday.

She has also spent two months in rehabilitation and has done some community service, Berk said at a hearing on her progress toward fulfilling the terms of her plea bargain.

Her two four-hour days at the morgue are part of a court-ordered program to show drivers the real-life consequences of drinking and driving. She must also spend two days working in a hospital emergency room.

Lohan was arrested twice last year on DUI charges and pleaded guilty in August to misdemeanor drunken driving and cocaine charges. She has already served 84 minutes in jail as part of the plea deal.

Lohan was not required to appear at Thursday's hearing.

Jenna Bush set to marry in May

2008-01-17T14:08:00.000-08:00

Reuters (Yahoo! News)

U.S. President George W. Bush's daughter Jenna and her fiance, Henry Hager, will marry on May 10, People magazine reported on its Web site on Wednesday, citing two sources it did not identify.

The wedding will be held at the president's 1,600-acre (646-hectare) ranch in Crawford, Texas, one source told the magazine.

A spokeswoman for first lady Laura Bush said she could not confirm the report and had no comment on it.

"It's going to be a small wedding," the source told People, adding Jenna had already selected her bridesmaids. "She's very excited. They make a great couple."

Jenna Bush, 26, became engaged in August to Hager, 29, who comes from a prominent Republican family and worked in the president's re-election campaign.

The couple's engagement announcement touched off a flurry of speculation about the possibility of a White House wedding.

Laura Bush told People magazine in November she fancied the idea of a White House wedding herself but knew it would not be very private.

"And of course we want to do what Jenna wants to do," she said.

Paparazzi arrested for chasing Britney

2008-01-17T13:27:00.000-08:00

Associated Press (Yahoo! Music)

Four paparazzi have been arrested for reckless driving while chasing Britney Spears' car in the San Fernando Valley.

Los Angeles police Lt. Mario Munoz said officers observed several cars following a white Mercedes-Benz around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday in Mission Hills.

The cars were following Spears' car too closely and traveling at unsafe speed. They also made several unsafe lane changes, authorities said.

Munoz said officers stopped the Mercedes, interviewed Spears and released the 26-year-old pop star after verifying her driver's license.

But the four photographers in the cars chasing her were booked for investigation of reckless driving.

Does Friut Juice Really Constitute a Healthy Diet?

2008-01-17T12:55:00.000-08:00

By Christine McKinney, M.S., R.D., C.D.E.

Often when I counsel clients, one of the weight-loss topics we discuss is what they're drinking. Many people simply drink too many of their calories — and this puts on the weight. Fruit juice is one drink many people overindulge in, and they do so because they assume it to be a healthy choice.

Fruit juice can fit into your daily diet if you follow these two rules: Drink only 100-percent fruit juice, and monitor your portion sizes. Read the food label to find out whether a product is 100-percent juice. Beware of terms like "fruit drink," "fruit cocktail" or "fruit punch," all of which may indicate it is not 100-percent juice and is loaded with artificial flavorings and extra sugar.

As for portion size, adults should drink no more than two cups (16 ounces) each day. This may vary depending on your age, body weight and gender, but it's a good general guideline.

Although most adults need about two servings or cups of fruit per day, 100-percent fruit juice can count as one, or even two, of those servings. The problem arises when people drink more than this, and those extra calories turn into extra weight.

But please keep in mind: Whole fruits do offer some benefits over juices. Whole fruits have more fiber than plain juice, and fiber helps you feel fuller longer. Also, a piece of whole fruit takes longer to digest than juice removed from the fruit, which keeps your blood sugar level steadier. And there's an additional satisfaction from chewing something instead of merely guzzling it down. So try choosing whole fruits over juices in your diet.

Children don't need as much juice as adults. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 1- to 6-year-olds only need 4 to 6 ounces of juice per day, while those ages 7 to 18 years need only 8 to 12 ounces. Again, we're talking 100-percent fruit juice. Even though obesity in children has often been linked to juice consumption, research has not found a link between consuming the recommended amounts of 100-percent juice and overweight in children.

Bottom line: It's possible to fit 100-percent fruit juice into a healthy diet, but make sure to chose pure juice and enjoy it in moderation — and continue aiming to make whole fruits a part of your daily intake.

Woman on crutches sexually assault Santa

2007-12-19T11:45:00.000-08:00

Woman on crutches accused of groping Santa...Sexual assault allegedly occurred on his lap at Connecticut mall

Associated Press

Santa Claus says that a woman who sat on his lap was naughty, not nice. A Santa at the Danbury Fair mall said the woman groped him.

"The security officer at the mall said Santa Claus has been sexually assaulted," police Detective Lt. Thomas Michael said of the complaint.

Sandrama Lamy, 33, of Danbury, was charged with sexual assault and breach of peace in the weekend incident. She was released on a promise to appear in court on Jan. 3.

Police quickly found and identified Lamy because the woman was described as being on crutches, said Capt. Bob Myles.

A call seeking comment from Lamy was answered by a recording Tuesday morning. A woman later called back and said: "It's a false report and I don't have any idea."

Police did not give the name of the disconcerted Santa, but they said he is 65 and felt badly because children were waiting to see him. "He was apparently shocked and embarrassed by the whole incident," Myles said.

A man who teaches hundreds of prospective Santas a year — "Santa Tim" Connaghan, president of RealSantas.com — said he's never heard of a similar incident, though it's not unusual for adults to want to pose with Santa.

"I've had some very nice ladies sit on my lap," said Connaghan, who did not train the Danbury Fair Santa. "Once in a while they'll say 'I hope Mrs. Claus isn't going to be upset.' You have to be discreet and kind and say 'Oh no, she'll be OK. You can sit here, but only for one photo.'"

A spokeswoman for Cherry Hill Photo, the company that coordinates Santas for Danbury Fair, declined to comment Tuesday.

New Miss Belgium can't speak Dutch; gets audience boos

2007-12-17T08:36:00.000-08:00

Yahoo! News (AFP)

Belgium's political tensions entered the glamour stakes after it was revealed that the new Miss Belgium does not speak Dutch.

Alizee Poulicek, who comes from the country's French-speaking region, was booed by some of the 4,000 audience when she admitted that she could not understand a question put to her in Dutch at the contest on Saturday night in the main Flemish city of Antwerp.

Poulicek, a 20-year-old language student, speaks French, Czech and English, but Flemish tabloid daily Het Laatste Niuews headlined its Monday edition with: "Miss Belgium does not speak Dutch".

The paper underlined that the "community crisis in our country" -- where there is no government six months after general elections amid bickering between leaders of the main French and Flemish parties -- "has insinuated itself into even the lightest sector."

Poulicek's victory "is not going down well," the daily said.

She said she had been taking Dutch lessons before the contest and has pledged to improve her standard in one of Belgium's three official languages, along with French and German.

The incident did not hurt her image with television viewers who voted for her, but Flemish journalists assailed her with questions at a press conference, highlighting her deficiencies in their tongue.

The Flemish community accounts for 60 percent of Belgium's 10.5 million people. A further 3.5 million live in Wallonia and one million in the largely Francophone, but officially bilingual Brussels.

Japanese Man powers Christmas tree with electric eel

2007-12-13T11:19:00.000-08:00

Tree in Japan is drawing tourists from all over the country

Reuters

Not even a blackout could put a damper on festivities at one Japanese aquarium where an electric eel is being used to light up its Christmas tree.

Two aluminum panels inside the eel's tank work as electrodes to catch its power. Cables attached to the panels supply the lights on the nearby tree with electricity.

Inventor Kazuhiko Minawa said it took him more than a month to devise a system that would effectively harness eel power.

"If we could gather all electric eels from all around the world, we would be able to light up an unimaginably giant Christmas tree," Minawa told Reuters Television.

Eels are widely eaten in Japan, especially in the summer, when their vitamin-rich flesh is seen as a way to regain stamina sapped by the heat.

The tree, which will stay illuminated until Christmas, is proving a popular attraction, drawing tourists from all over the country.

"I would love to have an eel like this at home. This is very nature-friendly," said visitor Harumi Yayoi.

Couples emphasize career of man over woman, study finds

2007-12-01T03:44:00.000-08:00

LiveScience Staff

When working couples move, the husband's career often gets a boost and the wife's career suffers. A new study suggests what's behind that typical outcome.

Couples tend to put more emphasis on the man's career, even if the wife works full-time and is college-educated.

"This is bad news for people who are interested in men and women having equal success in the labor force," said Mary Noonan, associate professor of sociology at the University of Iowa. "Even for highly educated married women with prestigious occupations, employment still suffers when they move, while the husbands' careers benefit. These women likely share the role of breadwinner, earning a significant part of the family income, but their career is still seen as secondary within the dynamic of the couple."

The findings are detailed in a recent issue of the journal Social Forces. The study was based on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, an annual survey that tracks families over a 30-year period. Noonan and a colleague examined the experiences of 5,072 working men and 4,120 working women between ages 25 and 59, all of whom were married. They compared the employment status and salaries of those who moved from one metropolitan area to another (655 men, 371 women) to those who stayed put.

A year after moving, nearly all of the men remained employed, but the women who moved were 22 percentage points less likely to remain employed compared to women who didn't move. Moving boosted the salaries of men by an average of $3,000 that year, compared to an average increase of only $700 for men who stayed put.

Women who moved reported average salary increases of $750 less than women who stayed put.

"Our results support the notion that families migrate to enhance husbands' careers," Noonan said. "Women are very unlikely to initiate the move. They're more likely to be the 'trailing spouse,' following their husbands in a move for his promotion, raise, or better opportunities down the road."

Iconic daredevil Evel Knievel dies at 69

2007-12-01T03:22:00.000-08:00

By MITCH STACY, Associated Press Writer

Evel Knievel's hard life killed him — it just took longer than he or anyone else might have expected. The hard-living motorcycle daredevil, whose bone-breaking, rocket-powered jumps and stunts made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69.

He had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs. He had undergone a liver transplant in 1999 after nearly dying of hepatitis C, likely contracted through a blood transfusion after one of his many spills. He also suffered two strokes in recent years.

Longtime friend and promoter Billy Rundle said Knievel had trouble breathing at his Clearwater condominium and died before an ambulance could get him to a hospital.

"It's been coming for years, but you just don't expect it. Superman just doesn't die, right?" said Rundle, organizer of the annual "Evel Knievel Days" festival in the daredevil's Butte, Mont., hometown.

Knievel's son Kelly, 47, said he had visited his father in Clearwater for Thanksgiving.

"I think he lived 20 years longer than most people would have" after so many injuries, Kelly Knievel said. "I think he willed himself into an extra five or six years."

Immortalized in the Washington's Smithsonian Institution as "America's Legendary Daredevil," Knievel was best known for a failed attempt to jump an Idaho canyon on a rocket-powered cycle and a spectacular crash at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. He suffered nearly 40 broken bones before he retired in 1980.

For the tall, thin daredevil, the limelight was always comfortable, the gab glib. There always were mountains to climb, feats to conquer.

"No king or prince has lived a better life," he told The Associated Presss in May 2006. "You're looking at a guy who's really done it all. And there are things I wish I had done better, not only for me but for the ones I loved."

He garbed himself in red, white and blue and had a knack for outrageous yarns: "Made $60 million, spent 61. ...Lost $250,000 at blackjack once. ... Had $3 million in the bank, though."

His death came just two days after it was announced that he and rapper Kanye West had settled a federal lawsuit over the use of Knievel's trademarked image in a popular West music video.

Although he dropped off the pop culture radar in the '80s, Knievel enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years. He made a good living selling autographs and endorsing products. Thousands came to Butte every year as his legend was celebrated during "Evel Knievel Days."

"They started out watching me bust my ass, and I became part of their lives," Knievel said. "People wanted to associate with a winner, not a loser. They wanted to associate with someone who kept trying to be a winner."

He began his daredevil career in 1965 when he formed a troupe called Evel Knievel's Motorcycle Daredevils, a touring show in which he performed stunts such as riding through fire walls, jumping over live rattlesnakes and mountain lions and being towed at 200 mph behind dragster race cars.

In 1966 he began touring alone, barnstorming the West and doing everything from driving the trucks, erecting the ramps and promoting the shows. In the beginning he charged $500 for a jump over two cars parked between ramps.

He steadily increased the length of the jumps until, on New Year's Day 1968, he was nearly killed when he jumped 151 feet across the fountains in front of Caesar's Palace. He cleared the fountains but the crash landing put him in a coma for a month.

His son Robbie Knievel followed in his father's daredevil footsteps and successfully completed the same jump in April 1989.

In the years after the crash, the fee for the elder Knievel's performances increased to $1 million for his jump over 13 buses at Wembley Stadium in London — the crash landing broke his pelvis — to more than $6 million for the Sept. 8, 1974, attempt to clear the Snake River Canyon in Idaho in a rocket-powered "Skycycle." The money came from ticket sales, paid sponsors and ABC's "Wide World of Sports."

The parachute malfunctioned and deployed after takeoff. Strong winds blew the cycle into the canyon, landing him close to the swirling river below.

On Oct. 25, 1975, he jumped 14 Greyhound buses at Kings Island in Ohio.

Knievel decided to retire after a jump in the winter of 1976 in which he was again seriously injured. He suffered a concussion and broke both arms in an attempt to jump a tank full of live sharks in the Chicago Amphitheater. He continued to do smaller exhibitions around the country with his son, Robbie.

Many of his records have been broken by daredevil motorcyclist Bubba Blackwell.

Knievel also dabbled in movies and TV, starring as himself in "Viva Knievel" and with Lindsey Wagner in an episode of the 1980s TV series "Bionic Woman." George Hamilton and Sam Elliott each played Knievel in movies about his life.

Evel Knievel toys accounted for more than $300 million in sales for Ideal and other companies in the 1970s and '80s.

Born Robert Craig Knievel in the copper mining town of Butte on Oct. 17, 1938, Knievel was raised by his grandparents. He traced his career choice back to the time he saw Joey Chitwood's Auto Daredevil Show at age 8.

Outstanding in track and field, ski jumping and ice hockey at Butte High School, he went on to win the Northern Rocky Mountain Ski Association Class A Men's ski jumping championship in 1957 and played with the Charlotte Clippers of the Eastern Hockey League in 1959.

He also formed the Butte Bombers semiprofessional hockey team, acting as owner, manager, coach and player.

Knievel also worked in the Montana copper mines, served in the Army, ran his own hunting guide service, sold insurance and ran Honda motorcycle dealerships. At various times and in different interviews, Knievel claimed to have been a swindler, a card thief, a safe cracker, a holdup man.

Evel Knievel married his hometown girlfriend, Linda Joan Bork, in 1959. They separated in the early 1990s. They had four children, Kelly, Robbie, Tracey and Alicia.

Robbie Knievel followed in his father's footsteps as a daredevil, jumping a moving locomotive in a 200-foot, ramp-to-ramp motorcycle stunt on live television in 2000. He also jumped a 200-foot-wide chasm of the Grand Canyon.

Knievel lived with his longtime partner, Krystal Kennedy-Knievel, splitting his time between their Clearwater condo and Butte. They married in 1999 and divorced a few years later but remained together. Knievel had 10 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Bracelet lost 25 years ago turns up … inside a chicken

2007-12-01T01:56:00.000-08:00

Boy's ID bracelet lost decades ago turns up in a gizzard from Minn. bird

Associated Press

More than two decades after Aaron Giles lost his identity bracelet, he's finding how it was discovered tough to swallow.

A meat cutter at Olson Locker in Fairmont came across the shiny object in a chicken gizzard and saw a name, address and phone number engraved on it.

"I've heard of livestock swallowing unusual objects, but this situation stands out," Mark Olson, who owns the meat locker, told the Sentinel of Fairmont.

Giles had lived in Fairmont as a child and played hide-and-seek and other games with his brothers in their grandfather's barn near Sherburn.

"I would spend most of my time out at his farm, and that's the only place I can think of that I would have lost it," Giles said about his bracelet on Thursday. The 31-year-old said he thinks the bracelet was lost when he was 4 or 5.

The barn was dismantled a few years ago, and Giles thinks his bracelet was imbedded in materials used to construct another barn in Elmore, about 45 miles away.

The bracelet was found in a chicken that came from an Elmore farm.

Olson was able to track down Giles' father, who had moved to Arizona. Giles, who now lives in Gloucester, Mass., said he received his old bracelet in September.

"It was in pretty immaculate shape. Everything was working on it, and all the engravings on it were still legible," Giles said. "It was quite the surprise."

Giles said he expects the bracelet to stay in his family for many years to come. "I have no plans on trying to lose it again," he said.

Rivera wins PR pageant crown despite Pepper prank

2007-11-26T11:06:00.000-08:00

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Pageant officials probe pepper spray

By REBECCA BANUCHI, Associated Press Writer

Beauty pageant organizers were investigating Sunday who doused a contestant's evening gowns with pepper spray and spiked her makeup, causing her to break out in hives.

Beauty queen Ingrid Marie Rivera beat 29 rivals to become the island's 2008 Miss Universe contestant, despite applying makeup and wearing evening gowns that had been coated with pepper spray, pageant spokesman Harold Rosario said.

Rivera was composed while appearing before cameras and judges throughout the competition. But once backstage, she had to strip off her clothes and apply ice bags to her face and body, which swelled and broke out in hives twice.

"We thought at first it was an allergic reaction, or maybe nerves," Rosario said. "But the second time, we knew it couldn't have been a coincidence."

Rivera's clothing and makeup later tested positive for pepper spray.

Someone also stole Rivera's bag containing her gowns, makeup and credit cards. And a bomb threat forced pageant officials to postpone the last day of competition on Thursday, said Magali Febles, director of the Miss Puerto Rico Universe pageant.

Pageant organizers said the hoped to catch and expose whoever was responsible for the pranks. They said, however, they were handling the investigation themselves and police are not involved.

Beauty competitions in the U.S. Caribbean territory — which boasts five Miss Universe titles, second only to the U.S. — are fierce, drawing boisterous audiences and accusations of rigged results.

But the pranks under investigation this year are a first, Rosario said.

Rivera, who won Miss World Caribbean in 2005, had been a target of controversy from the start of competition, as rivals complained she was too experienced and should be disqualified.

Local media touted her as the likely winner, stoking jealousy among contestants, Rosario said.

When Rivera won, rivals accused her of buying the crown, Puerto Rico's El Nuevo Dia newspaper reported.

A tearful Rivera recounted her ordeal at a news conference Sunday, acknowledging she had wavered about staying in the contest.

"At one point I said, 'Am I a masochist?'" she recalled, her voice breaking. "But I said, 'I am with God and this is my goal, regardless of the results.'"

Google co-founder getting married next month

2007-11-14T10:46:00.000-08:00

Associated Press

Silicon Valley's richest bachelor is getting married next month.

Google Inc. co-founder Larry Page, whose stake in the Internet search leader is worth about $20 billion, and Lucy Southworth are tying the knot in a ceremony scheduled for the weekend of Dec. 8, according to a report published Tuesday in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Page, 34, is following in the footsteps of Google's other founder, Sergey Brin, who married Anne Wojcicki six months ago in an exclusive ceremony in the Caribbean. The location of Southworth's and Page's wedding was not disclosed.

After Brin's wedding, Mountain View-based Google invested $3.9 million in Wojcicki's biotechnology startup, 23andMe Inc.

Southworth was a biomedical informatics doctoral student at Stanford University, where both Page and Brin were studying as graduate students before leaving to start Google in 1998. Page has been dating Southworth for more than a year.

The invitation list to Page's wedding is expected to include many of Google's current and former employees, as well San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and billionaire Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group.

Former Vice President Al Gore, a senior adviser at Google, told the Chronicle he has been invited to the wedding but won't be able to make it because he will be picking up the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway. He said he still hopes to make an appearance through video conferencing.

Italian musician uncovers hidden music in 'Last Supper'

2007-11-10T06:47:00.000-08:00

By Ariel David, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

It's a new Da Vinci code but this time it could be for real.

An Italian musician and computer technician claims to have uncovered musical notes encoded in Leonardo Da Vinci's "Last Supper," raising the possibility that the Renaissance genius might have left behind a sombre composition to accompany the scene depicted in the 15th-century wall painting.

"It sounds like a requiem," Giovanni Maria Pala said. "It's like a soundtrack that emphasizes the passion of Jesus."

Painted from 1494 to 1498 in Milan's Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the "Last Supper" vividly depicts a key moment in the Gospel narrative: Jesus' last meal with the 12 Apostles before his arrest and crucifixion, and the shock of Christ's followers as they learn that one of them is about to betray him.

Pala, a 45-year-old musician who lives near the southern Italian city of Lecce, began studying Leonardo's painting in 2003, after hearing on a news program that researchers believed the artist and inventor had hidden a musical composition in the work.

"Afterward, I didn't hear anything more about it," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "As a musician, I wanted to dig deeper."

In a book released Friday in Italy, Pala explains how he took elements of the painting that have symbolic value in Christian theology and interpreted them as musical clues.

Pala first saw that by drawing the five lines of a musical staff across the painting, the loaves of bread on the table as well as the hands of Jesus and the Apostles could each represent a musical note.

This fit the relation in Christian symbolism between the bread, representing the body of Christ, and the hands, which are used to bless the food, he said. But the notes made no sense musically until Pala realized that the score had to be read from right to left, following Leonardo's particular writing style.

In his book - "La Musica Celata" ("The Hidden Music") - Pala also describes how he found what he says are other clues in the painting that reveal the slow rhythm of the composition and the duration of each note.

The result is a 40-second "hymn to God" that Pala said sounds best on a pipe organ, the instrument most commonly used in Leonardo's time for spiritual music. A short segment taken from a CD of the piece contained a Bach-like passage played on the organ. The tempo was almost painfully slow but musical.

Alessandro Vezzosi, a Leonardo expert and the director of a museum dedicated to the artist in his hometown of Vinci, said he had not seen Pala's research but that the musician's hypothesis "is plausible."

Vezzosi said previous research has indicated the hands of the Apostles in the painting can be substituted with the notes of a Gregorian chant, though so far no one had tried to work in the bread loaves.

"There's always a risk of seeing something that is not there, but it's certain that the spaces (in the painting) are divided harmonically," he said. "Where you have harmonic proportions, you can find music."

Vezzosi also noted that though Leonardo was more noted for his paintings, sculptures and visionary inventions, he was also a musician. Da Vinci played the lyre and designed various instruments. His writings include some musical riddles, which must be read from right to left.

Reinterpretations of the "Last Supper" have popped up ever since "The Da Vinci Code" fascinated readers and moviegoers with suggestions that one of the apostles sitting on Jesus' right is Mary Magdalene, that the two had a child and that their bloodline continues.

Pala stressed that his discovery does not reveal any supposed dark secrets of the Catholic Church or of Leonardo, but instead shows the artist in a light far removed from the conspiratorial descriptions found in fiction.

"A new figure emerges - he wasn't a heretic like some believe," Pala said. "What emerges is a man who believes, a man who really believes in God."

Michael Jordan applauds son's decision to play basketball as walk-on at Illinois

2007-11-10T05:35:00.000-08:00

Yahoo! Sports

Michael Jordan applauded his son's decision to walk on at Illinois rather than accept a scholarship to a smaller college.

The basketball legend and his 18-year-old son, Jeffrey, appeared on the "Today" show Friday.

Jordan said his son decided he wanted the challenge of proving himself at the Big Ten school.

"I'm thinking that's what I would have done," Jordan said.

Talking on the Illinois campus, NBC's Matt Lauer asked if the son had ever beaten his father in a basketball game.

"Ask him how many times," Jordan said to Lauer, knowing the answer would be once, before admitting that he wasn't thrilled about it at the time.

Jordan, a 6-2 guard at Loyola Academy prep school in Wilmette, Ill., chose Illinois over Valparaiso in April. He was a three-year starter at Loyola Academy and two-year All Catholic League player.

He'll be coached by Bruce Weber, who guided the Illini to a 23-12 record last year before losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Jordan, who led the Chicago Bulls to six championships and was a five-time MVP, said he knows there will be high expectations for his son. But he told him meeting his own expectations is important.

"The thing we have tried to tell Jeff is that you pick your own expectations and if you're happy, that's all that matters," Jordan said. "You're never going to make everybody happy."

Jordan is now part owner of the Charlotte Bobcats.

Jordan talked a bit about his divorce last year from his wife, Juanita, after 17 years of marriage. Along with Jeffrey -- who is majoring in psychology and earned an academic scholarship to Illinois -- the couple have a younger son and daughter.

"His mom and I were on the same page when it came to that," Jordan said. "Our kids came first. We still communicate each and every day."

Jordan said he talked to his son about mistakes he made in the past, including gambling. While he said there is nothing wrong with gambling, he advised his son to be careful.

"My lesson to him was 'Don't ever go outside your means,"' he said.

Jordan said when he attends his son's games, all eyes are on him. So as he's done in the past, he'll make an effort not to show his reactions during Illini games.

His son joked he supports his dad attending games because it takes some pressure off him.

"When he's there it kind of helps me a little bit because I know people aren't watching me so much," he said.

Britain's most ridiculous laws

2007-11-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

AFP

Queen Elizabeth II's speech in the British parliament Tuesday may have been routine but at least nobody got bored to death. That would have been against the law.

Dying in parliament is an offence and is also by far the most absurd law in Britain, according to a survey of nearly 4,000 people by a television channel showing a legal drama series.

And though the lords were clad in their red and white ermine cloaks and ambassadors from around the world wore colourful national costumes, at least nobody turned up in a suit of armour. Illegal.

Other rules deemed utterly stupid included one that permits a pregnant woman to urinate in a policeman's hat and murdering bow-and-arrow-carrying Scotsmen within the city walls of York, northern England.

A law stating that in Liverpool, only a clerk in a tropical fish store is allowed to be publicly topless, was also ridiculous, said a poll of 3,931 people for UKTV Gold television out Tuesday.

Nearly half of those surveyed admitted to breaking the ban on eating mince pies on Christmas Day, which dates back to the 17th century and was originally designed to outlaw gluttony during the rule of the Puritan Oliver Crowmell.

The laws and other regulations were culled from published research into ancient legislation that has never been repealed although subsequent statutes have rendered them obsolete.

Respondents were given a shortlist and asked to vote.

Most ridiculous British law:

1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament (27 percent)

2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside-down (seven percent)

3. In Liverpool, it is illegal for a woman to be topless except as a clerk in a tropical fish store (six percent)

4. Mince pies cannot be eaten on Christmas Day (five percent)

5. In Scotland, if someone knocks on your door and requires the use of your toilet, you must let them enter (four percent)

6. A pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet (four percent)

7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the king, and the tail of the queen (3.5 percent)

8. It is illegal to avoid telling the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing (three percent)

9. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament in a suit of armour (three percent)

10. In the city of York it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow (two percent)

Texas town up for sale on eBay

2007-11-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

By ELIZABETH WHITE, Associated Press Writer

Bobby Cave, owner of a Texas town called Albert, decided this year to sell. Then a friend mentioned the online auction site eBay Inc. Now, with the click of a mouse — and at least $2.5 million — Albert could be yours.

After spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to clean up and restore the 13-acre town about 50 miles north of San Antonio, Cave said he's ready to move on to his next venture.

"It's a concept. It's one of a kind," said Cave, 47, a real estate agent. "It's more like a piece of art than it is a real estate property. That's why eBay sounded so good to us. It's quirky."

Eric Meissner, Cave's friend and co-listing agent, said Albert qualifies as a town, or at least was once a town, because it used to have a post office. Albert dates to the late 1800s and is now unincorporated.

"There is a road sign with a name on it. It's indicative of an area," Meissner said. "Just because the post office goes away the town doesn't go away."

No one lives there permanently, but the tavern that Cave created from the frame of the old general store is open on weekends. There are also the "cleanest public restrooms in Texas," built by Cave, and a pavilion, 85-year-old dance hall, tractor shed and three-bedroom house. All of that, plus peach and pecan orchards, come with the land.

Cave said he will even throw in his plan to turn the place into a tourist destination, including plans for a restaurant and cabins.

The eBay auction closes Nov. 23. On Wednesday, about a week after bidding opened, offers topped $300,000. But that was still less than Cave's "reserve price" of $2.5 million, the least he will take for the property.

Hani Durzy, an eBay spokesman, said listing an entire town for auction is very uncommon.

"We always like it when these kinds of things appear on the site because it's fun," Durzy said. "We wish them luck."

Bridgeville, in northern California, was the first town ever put on the eBay auction block. The 83 acres were twice sold on the site, in 2002 (that deal fell through) and again last year.

People harsher on crying women than crying men

2007-10-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

The crying game: male vs female tears

By JOCELYN NOVECK, AP National Writer

"Please, please, please, just give the dog back," Ellen DeGeneres wept on national TV last week. It was a moment that quickly established itself in the pop culture firmament, less for the plight of Iggy the adopted terrier than for the copious crying itself.

Setting aside the question of whether those sobs were 100 percent genuine, tears are a natural human response, and public figures are obviously not immune. But some who study this most basic expression of feeling will tell you that in this day and age, it can be easier for a crying man to be taken seriously than a crying woman.

In politics, it's a far cry (OK, pun intended) from 1972, when Sen. Ed Muskie's presidential campaign was derailed by what were perceived to be tears in response to a newspaper attack on his wife. Whether he actually cried is still up for debate. But decades later, an occasional Clintonesque tear is seen as a positive thing.

Bill Clinton, that is.

"Bill could cry, and did, but Hillary can't," says Tom Lutz, a professor at the University of California, Riverside who authored an exhaustive history of crying. In other words, the same tearful response that would be seen as sensitivity in Bill could be seen as a lack of control in his wife.

But there are additional rules for acceptable public crying. "We're talking about dropping a tear," Lutz notes, "no more than a tear or two." And it all depends on the perceived seriousness of the subject matter. Thus Jon Stewart or David Letterman could choke up with impunity just after 9/11. But a dog-adoption problem is a whole other matter.

In a recently published study at Penn State, researchers sought to explore differing perceptions of crying in men and women, presenting their 284 subjects with a series of hypothetical vignettes.

What they found is that reactions depended on the type of crying, and who was doing it. A moist eye was viewed much more positively than open crying, and males got the most positive responses.

"Women are not making it up when they say they're damned if they do, damned if they don't," said Stephanie Shields, the psychology professor who conducted the study. "If you don't express any emotion, you're seen as not human, like Mr. Spock on 'Star Trek,'" she said. "But too much crying, or the wrong kind, and you're labeled as overemotional, out of control, and possibly irrational."

That comes as no surprise to Suzyn Waldman, a well-known broadcaster of Yankee games on New York's WCBS Radio.

Earlier this month, she choked up for several seconds on live radio after the Yankees had just been eliminated from the playoffs. She was describing the scene as manager Joe Torre's coaches choked up themselves, watching him at the podium and foreseeing the end of an era.

Her tearful report quickly became an Internet hit, and she was mocked far and wide, especially on radio, with her voice, for example, played over the song "Big Girls Don't Cry."

"This turned into something pretty ugly," Waldman said in an interview. "I don't throw around the word 'sexist,' but this was as sexist as it gets."

She also wrote a passionate editorial in Newsday defending her brief display of emotion. "While the anger and sarcasm that I can and do display is all right with people," she wrote, "the occasional tear is scary and is ridiculed. Why?"

While Waldman notes that female anger in the clubhouse, is OK — it makes her seem tough, she says — one recent study indicates that perceptions of anger, too, differ according to gender.

"When men express anger they gain status, but when women express anger they lose status," Yale social psychologist Victoria Brescoll, who conducted three experiments on how people perceive female anger, said in an interview. Her study is to be published in the journal Psychological Science.

For a little historical perspective, says Lutz, author of "Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears," it's helpful to look back to the 19th century, when skillful politicians like Abraham Lincoln used tears as a natural part of their oratory.

The tide later shifted against male crying, but in the last 30 to 40 years male crying has gained in acceptability. "Every president since Ronald Reagan has used tears at some point," says Shields, the Penn State psychologist.

As for women politicians, many remember the 1987 incident in which Rep. Patricia Schroeder, D-Colo., had to defend herself against charges of weakness after she wept while announcing her decision not to run for president. "I think it's a sign of compassion," she said later.

Military figures have cried at critical moments. Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf cried at a Christmas Eve ceremony in front of his troops, and when interviewed by Barbara Walters, Lutz notes.

There seem to be few limits on crying if you're an entertainment figure. Johnny Carson's tears were touching on the second-to-last night of his career, while serenaded by Bette Midler. As for awards shows, aren't we even a little disappointed (and bored) when a winner DOESN'T cry?

But in DeGeneres' case, along with the strong support from fans and many dog lovers, she also endured some criticism and mockery, especially from fellow comic Bill Maher. (To recap: DeGeneres had adopted Iggy from a rescue organization, then given it to her hairdresser's family when the dog didn't get along with her cats. That was against the rules, and the rescue group took the dog back, prompting her emotional appeal.)

Maher decided to respond on behalf of an entire gender: The opposite one.

"At this moment when the entire nation is saying 'Hmm, can we have a woman president? Maybe they're too emotional,' I don't think this is helping," Maher said on his talk show.

"If I was a woman," he added, "I would be embarrassed right now. I would be embarrassed for all womankind."

25 Secrets of Mona Lisa Revealed

2007-10-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com

New images uncover 25 secrets about the Mona Lisa, including proof that Leonardo da Vinci gave her eyebrows, solving a long-held mystery.

The images are part of an exhibition, "Mona Lisa Secrets Revealed," which will feature new research by French engineer Pascal Cotte and debut in the United States at the Metreon in San Francisco. The Mona Lisa showcase is part of a larger exhibition called "Da Vinci: An Exhibition of Genius."

Cotte, founder of Lumiere Technology, scanned the painting with a 240-megapixel Multi-spectral Imaging Camera he invented, which uses 13 wavelengths from ultraviolet light to infrared. The resulting images peel away centuries of varnish and other alterations, shedding light on how the artist brought the painted figure to life and how she appeared to da Vinci and his contemporaries.

"The face of Mona Lisa appears slightly wider and the smile is different and the eyes are different," Cotte said. "The smile is more accentuated I would say."

Mona Lisa mysteries

A zoomed-in image of Mona Lisa's left eye revealed a single brush stroke in the eyebrow region, Cotte said.

"I am an engineer and scientist, so for me all has to be logical. It was not logical that Mona Lisa does not have any eyebrows or eyelashes," Cotte told LiveScience. "I discovered one hair of the eyebrow."

Another conundrum had been the position of the subject's right arm, which lies across her stomach. This was the first time, Cotte said, that a painter had rendered a subject's arm and wrist in such a position. While other artists had never understood da Vinci's reasoning, they copied it nonetheless.

Cotte discovered the pigment just behind the right wrist matched up perfectly with that of the painted cover that drapes across Mona Lisa's knee. So it did make sense: The forearm and wrist held up one side of a blanket.

"The wrist of the right hand is up high on the stomach. But if you look deeply in the infrared you understand that she holds a cover with her wrist," Cotte said.

Behind a painting

The infrared images also revealed da Vinci's preparatory drawings that lie behind layers of varnish and paint, showing that the Renaissance man was also human.

"If you look at the left hand you see the first position of the finger, and he changed his mind for another position," Cotte said. "Even Leonardo da Vinci had hesitation."

Other revelations include:

Lace on Mona Lisa's dress
The transparency of the veil shows da Vinci first painted a landscape and then used transparency techniques to paint the veil atop it.
A change in the position of the left index and middle finger.
The elbow was repaired from damage due to a rock thrown at the painting in 1956.
The blanket covering Mona Lisa's knees also covers her stomach.
The left finger was not completely finished.
A blotch mark on the corner of the eye and chin are varnish accidents, countering claims that Mona Lisa was sick.
And the Mona Lisa was painted on uncut poplar board, contrary to speculations.

In the larger picture, Cotte said when he stands back and looks up at the enlarged infrared image of Mona Lisa, her beauty and mystique are apparent.

"If you are in front of this huge enlargement of Mona Lisa, you understand instantly why Mona Lisa is so famous," Cotte said. He added, it's something you have to see with your own eyes.

Detaching from your cell phone

2007-09-05T07:09:00.000-07:00

By Patrick Moore

Like many people, I find that I use my cell phone more and more. There is no denying that this device has changed the way we live.

However, not all of these changes have been for the better. It is clear that cell phones have changed our behavior in ways that impact our emotional health and our interactions with other people.

Let's take a look at three areas where cell use can be detrimental and three tips for a healthier relationship with technology.

Dependence
We used to be quite content spending time alone, walking down the street or waiting in a coffee shop for a friend. Now, however, many of us seem to feel the need to be constantly connected to another person via a digital device.

No moment can pass without the emotional security blanket of holding on to another person electronically. This is a kind of dependence that tells us that it is not OK to be alone, that we are somehow lacking without constant connection with another person.

INDEPENDENCE TIP - Try being alone for a few hours. If you are shopping or walking or driving, turn off the phone. See what it feels like to simply be on your own without giving in to the habit of carrying around all of your friends and family via the cell phone.

Selfishness
This is the area where new technology is busily eroding the social contract that makes it possible for humans to live together peacefully. Not a day goes by where I don't witness a confrontation over selfish cell phone use.

Whether it is a dangerous driver chatting away or a gym-goer screaming into their phone while on the treadmill or the blinding glare of an electronic screen in a darkened movie theater, these tiny devices can cause giant conflicts. Because they focus our attention and block out the outside world, cell phones reinforce selfish behavior.

POLITENESS TIP - Just think of others and get real about your needs. Is there truly a call or email that cannot wait until the movie is over or until I leave the gym? If there is something that important going on, then perhaps it would be better to stay at home or in the office.

Fear
Many people depend upon their phones for help. But it was only a few years ago when most of us did not have a cell phone and we seemed to survive. Yes, terrorism has scared (and scarred) us, but realistically, if a nuclear bomb hits Los Angeles, my cell phone is not going to do much to help me.

We have become irrationally attached to these devices as a way for us to deal with fear in the modern world. I will be the first to admit that a mobile phone is useful in a situation such as a car accident but, for the most part, our magic little devices are not going to protect us from a big, scary world.

FEARLESS TIP - Practice being without your phone for a day and see what fears come up. Are you afraid that a loved one is in trouble or that something bad will happen to you? At the end of the day, ask yourself if those fears were real or just a habit.

As modes of digital communication become more and more powerful, the time is right to use this new technology in a way that is not only convenient but also emotionally healthy for everyone.

Brad Pitt's dream for a Greener New Orleans

2007-08-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

By Russell McCulley

Calling Hurricane Katrina a "man-made disaster," actor Brad Pitt said on Tuesday he remains committed to helping the city recover from the storm.

Nearly two years after the August 29, 2005 hurricane, the "Ocean's Thirteen" star said he was at times dismayed by the pace of recovery in New Orleans, where he and partner Angelina Jolie own an elegant townhouse in the historic French Quarter.

Pitt was in the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood to tour an ecologically sustainable single-family home being built by Global Green USA, an environmental group he backs.

The actor praised the house in the Holy Cross area of the ward as a "small victory" for efforts to rebuild the city, but said, "it's hard to find an overall victory when you see how slowly everything is still moving. And Katrina was a man-made disaster. This house is a man-made solution."

Pitt said the city's flood-protection defenses must be restored before displaced residents feel confident enough to rebuild.

"We've got to push to get these levees taken care of in the correct fashion," he told reporters at a news conference in the hurricane-ravaged working class neighborhood.

The house that Pitt toured, loosely modeled on the distinctive New Orleans "shotgun" style of long, narrow homes, will generate almost all its electricity from 28 roof-mounted solar panels, said Global Green USA president Matt Petersen.

Global Green hopes to use the house, which should be completed this fall, as a prototype for the neighborhood. Built not far from the banks of the Mississippi River and raised by three feet on concrete pilings, it is above sea level.

Some in the area, which was not as badly flooded as others in the city, are rebuilding. But a lack of funds have kept most from starting fresh.

Levee repairs are ongoing and engineers differ over how the new levees will fare in a major storm.

The environmental group has pledged to create a residential community of "green" structures, including an 18-unit, low-income apartment building near the Mississippi.

Pitt, 43, said the redevelopment project could help encourage people whose homes were destroyed in the storm to return and rebuild in a more environmentally conscious fashion.

"We knew we couldn't bring back the families and friends that were lost, bring back the heirlooms, the pictures," Pitt said. "But maybe, in the process of rebuilding, we could build something smarter, and create a better way of life for those people who live here."

Blind woman golfer first female to hit hole-in-one

2007-08-22T11:53:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! Sports

Sheila Drummond didn't need to see her hole-in-one. She heard it.

Drummond, blinded by diabetes 26 years ago, experienced the highlight of her golfing career Sunday, recording an ace on the 144-yard, par-3 fourth hole at Mahoning Valley Country Club.

Playing with her husband and coach, Keith, and two friends in a steady rain, the 53-year-old Drummond hit a driver on the hole. The shot cleared a water hazard, flew between traps and landed on the green, where it hit the flagstick before dropping into the hole.

"They were saying, 'It's a great shot,' and then I heard it hit the pin," Drummond said.

"For a hole-in-one, you have to hit it onto the green, so it's a little bit of skill and a lot of luck."

In 1999, Golf Digest said the odds of an amateur getting a hole-in-one are 1 in 12,750. That number, no doubt rises, for a blind golfer.

Drummond is a member of the board of directors of the United States Blind Golfers Association, and the organization believes she is the first totally blind female to record a hole-in-one.

"We've looked everywhere, and haven't been able to find anyone else," she said.

Drummond took up golf about 15 years ago, and three years later qualified as the first female member of the USGBA.

"I just try to do the best I can," said Drummond, who carries a 48 handicap with the USGBA. "I get nervous.

"But I wasn't nervous (Sunday), I just don't like playing in the rain."

Drummond's hole-in-one was first reported on the Web site of The Morning Call of Allentown.

Breaking up isn't as bad as you thought

2007-08-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

By Julie Steenhuysen

Despite the laments of pining pop stars and sad sack poets, U.S. researchers now think breaking up may not be so hard to do.

"We underestimate our ability to survive heartbreak," said Eli Finkel, an assistant professor of psychology at Northwestern University, whose study appears online in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

Finkel and colleague Paul Eastwick studied young lovers -- especially those who profess ardent affection -- to see if their predictions of devastation matched their actual angst when that love was lost.

"On average, people overestimate how distressed they will be following a breakup," Finkel said in a telephone interview.

The nine-month study involved college students who had been dating at least two months who filled out questionnaires every two weeks. They gathered data from 26 people -- 10 women and 16 men -- who broke up with their partners during the first six months of the study.

The participants' forecasts of distress two weeks before the breakup were compared to their actual experience as recorded over four different periods of time.

Not surprisingly, they found the more people were in love, the harder they took the breakup.

"People who are more in love really are a little more upset after a breakup, but their perceptions about how distraught they will be are dramatically overstated when compared to reality," Finkel said.

"At the end of the day it, it is just less bad than you thought."

Is Michael Vick's career over?

2007-08-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

By Jason Cole, Yahoo! Sports

While many people in and around the NFL are wondering if Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick ever will play in the league again, former Green Bay general manager Ron Wolf is wondering why not.

"If he pays his debt to society, why shouldn't he get another chance?" asked Wolf, who was the engineer of Green Bay's Super Bowl championship team in the 1996 season. "Maybe I don't understand something in all of this, but you're supposed to get a second chance in this country."

However, according to interviews with several NFL executives, Wolf is in the minority. Four other general managers and/or other personnel executives said they thought a return by Vick would be problematic.

"Yeah, that's true, but it's a different time, a different place, a different set of circumstances," said a general manager who asked not to be identified.

On Monday, Vick's attorney Billy Martin announced that the quarterback will plead guilty to federal dogfighting conspiracy charges. Conditions of the terms are unknown, but Vick faces up to five years in prison.

The most damning evidence made public against Vick came Friday when co-defendants Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips also pleaded guilty. In their plea, Peace and Phillips admitted to killing eight dogs in April at Vick's property in Virginia and said that Vick participated in the death of the animals. The animals were destroyed because they failed to perform well enough in testing to see if they were "game" enough to be good fighters.

"Every time you read about this story, it makes you want to take a shower," another unnamed general manager said.

The Vick issue is layered with questions, such as how long he might serve in prison, how long the NFL will suspend him once he officially enters his plea Aug. 27 and whether the Falcons will go after approximately $28 million the team paid him in bonus money.

Still, the bottom line comes down to whether he'll get another chance. Adding to the complexity of the situation, said one general manager, is that Vick plays quarterback. Will some NFL team ever want a convicted animal killer and liar to be the face of a franchise?

"You're not talking about just anybody on your football team," the GM said. "You're talking about the leader of your team, the most recognizable player on your team, the guy who you normally market the team around and try to get the fans excited about.

"Do you really think you're ever going to be able to get people to put their arms around that guy again? Maybe, but I don't think I'd be able to pull it off. We're not talking about just football here. We're talking about marketing, profile, what your sponsors think."

At the same time, Wolf contended that crime is crime and that other players have been found guilty of activities seemingly just as serious.

"We've had a lot of people in this league do a lot of bad things, and they still got a chance," Wolf said. "Leonard Little killed someone (while drunk driving). Jamal Lewis went to prison (in connection to) selling drugs. Are you telling me that killing eight dogs is worse than killing a human being? … Yes, this is bad, but are you really telling me that he doesn't deserve a chance to play again when other people have committed crimes and come back?"

Then again, Wolf is an example of someone who might have the power to make it happen.

"It's going to take an owner who has big ones or a GM who has some (trophies) on his (side) to make that work," another general manager said. Since Vick still is under contract with the Falcons, executives from other teams are not allowed to talk about him from an employment standpoint.

Oakland managing general partner Al Davis and Dallas owner Jerry Jones were among those mentioned as owners who might take a chance on Vick if and when Atlanta lets him go.

"Yeah, it would have to be someone like one of those guys," a team executive said. "Just ask yourself, 'How are you going to sell that one as a GM to your owner and his wife?' "

The additional issue with Vick is that well before he got in trouble, there were concerns about whether he could become a polished quarterback. Atlanta hired coach Bobby Petrino this offseason with the goal of concluding if Vick ever would harness his impressive talent.

"The fact that he's only 27 and he's still going to be a great athlete in a year or two is going to help him, but now he's behind for two years," the GM said. "I wasn't sure how good a quarterback he was before. What's he going to be in two years?"

Error in Arkansas law allows young kids to marry

2007-08-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

By ANDREW DeMILLO, Associated Press Writer

A law passed this year allows Arkansans of any age — even infants — to marry if their parents agree, and the governor may have to call a special session to fix the mistake, lawmakers said Friday.

The legislation was intended to establish 18 as the minimum age to marry but also allow pregnant teenagers to marry with parental consent, bill sponsor Rep. Will Bond said. An extraneous "not" in the bill, however, allows anyone who is not pregnant to marry at any age if the parents allow it.

"It's clearly not the intent to allow 10-year-olds or 11-year-olds to get married," Bond said. "The legislation was screwed up."

The bill reads: "In order for a person who is younger than eighteen (18) years of age and who is not pregnant to obtain a marriage license, the person must provide the county clerk with evidence of parental consent to the marriage."

A code revision commission — which fixes typographical and technical errors in laws — had tried to correct the mistake, but a group of legislators said Friday the commission went beyond its powers.

"You're either pregnant or you're not pregnant," Sen. Dave Bisbee said. "Rarely will that be a typographical error."

The Arkansas Legislative Council asked the independent commission to reverse its correction. Several lawmakers said a special session may be necessary.

"We need a special session to fix this," Sen. Sue Madison said. "I am concerned about pedophiles coming to Arkansas to find parents who are willing to sign a very young child's consent."

Before the new law took effect July 31, girls could get married with parental consent at 16 and boys at 17.

The Legislature formally adjourned its session in May and is not scheduled to meet again until January 2009, unless Gov. Mike Beebe calls a special session. Beebe said he wanted to look at all options for correcting the error before deciding whether to call a special session.

Bush's daughter, Jenna, engaged to be married

2007-08-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer

Is a White House wedding in the works? Jenna Bush, one of President Bush's twin daughters, is engaged to be married to her longtime boyfriend, Henry Hager, the White House announced Thursday.

Asked if the two were getting married in the Rose Garden, Sally McDonough, press secretary for first lady Laura Bush, replied: "They have not set any details, date or place."

Jenna Bush, 25, and Hager, 29, were engaged Wednesday in Maine, she said.

The two have been dating for several years, and Hager is often seen at Jenna Bush's side at Bush family functions and formal events, such as a White House dinner in November 2005 in honor of Britain's Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

Hager will be returning to school this fall to complete his master's degree in business administration at the University of Virginia. He has an undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University.

Hager, who has been a White House aide and worked on Bush's re-election campaign, is the son of John and Maggie Hager of Richmond, Va. His father is chairman of the Republican Party in Virginia, former assistant secretary of the Education Department's office of special education, former lieutenant governor of Virginia and former director of Virginia's Office of Commonwealth Preparedness.

After earning a degree in English in 2004 from the University of Texas at Austin, Jenna Bush spent a year and a half teaching at Elsie Whitlow Stokes, a public charter elementary school in the Washington area. After that, she worked for 10 months in Latin America as an intern for UNICEF. She worked with adolescents in Argentina, Paraguay and Panama, where she taught at a shelter.

She spent this summer teaching at the charter school and traveling to Africa with her mother, first lady Laura Bush. She and her mother, also a schoolteacher, are collaborating on a children's picture storybook to be published in spring 2008. Proceeds are to be donated to two education programs: Teach for America and The New Teacher Project.

Jenna Bush also has her own book coming out Sept. 28. "Ana's Story," based on her time working for UNICEF, tells of a 17-year-old single mother who is HIV positive. Some of the book proceeds will go to UNICEF.

The twins, each named for a grandmother, spent most of Bush's first term avoiding the media glare but didn't always succeed.

There was an embarrassing run-in with the law in Texas for underage drinking in May 2001, their father's first year in the White House. It was Jenna Bush's second offense for violating state alcoholic beverage laws, coming after a no contest plea two weeks earlier, and the first for Barbara, who holds a degree in humanities from Yale University.

And Jenna, full of spunk, was photographed sticking her tongue out at the media during a campaign stop in Missouri in 2004.

The last time there was a White House wedding was in 1994.

The Rose Garden was crammed with 250 chairs and a white canopy for the wedding of Nicole Boxer, daughter of Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Tony Rodham, the younger brother of then first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, now a senator from New York and Democratic presidential hopeful.

In 1971, President Nixon's daughter, Tricia, was married in style to Harvard law student Edward Cox. She walked down the staircase of the columned South Portico and danced at a reception in the ornate East Room.

Other presidential daughters to have all or part of their weddings at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue include: President Johnson's daughter, Luci Baines Johnson Nugent, who had her wedding reception at the White House in August 1966, Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, who married her husband in the East Room in December 1967; and Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, who was wed at the White House in the early 1900s.

Duet for Elvis and daughter, Lisa Marie Presley

2007-08-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! Music - News

A new video of Lisa Marie Presley singing "In the Ghetto," accompanied by her late father, Elvis Presley, will be posted Friday on the AOL Internet site Spinner.com, a company spokesman said Tuesday.

To mark the 30th anniversary of her father's death, Lisa Marie Presley's voice was added to the original version of her father's hit song from 1969. The video duet also features images of her late father.

Spinner.com will post the video along with the transcript of an interview with Lisa Marie Presley, AOL spokesman Kurt Patat said. In the interview, Lisa Marie Presley said the project was emotionally stirring.

"We had two hours to lay down my vocals," she says. "So the next morning, I heard the rough ... and ... I've never cried when I've done anything ... ever ... but I just lost it when I heard it.

Lisa Marie Presley also talks in the interview about how she was offended to see her father's song "Viva Las Vegas" used in a Viagra commercial. "I find that revolting," she said. "Some songs we have no control over. I know we didn't license that one."

Proceeds from the new song and video will be used to help build temporary housing for the homeless in New Orleans, she said. The project is to be similar to Presley Place, a 12-unit apartment building for the homeless built in Memphis by Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. in 2001.

At the time, Elvis Presley Enterprises was owned by Lisa Marie Presley. She sold 85 percent of the company two years ago to CKX Inc., which now controls the worldwide business in marketing Elvis' name and image.

Elvis Presley died at his Memphis home, Graceland, on Aug. 16, 1977, and thousands of fans are in town this week for the 30th anniversary of his death.

Lisa Marie Presley, 39, is scheduled to attend a concert Thursday in Memphis that will feature her father performing on video, with live support from his former backup singers and band members.

Her most recent album of her own music was "Now What" in 2005, but she said in the interview that she hopes to put out a new album soon.

"I'm definitely going to do it," she said. "I just have to figure out the right way. I'm on a clean slate right now — I just got off my label (Capitol Records). So I'm figuring out my next route."

10 Symptoms Not to Ignore

2007-08-11T07:37:00.000-07:00

Take these not-so-obvious symptoms to your doctor.

From MayoClinic.com

You already know that the obvious signs and symptoms — chest pain, abdominal pain or unexplained bleeding — are generally good reason to seek immediate medical care. But, the not-so-obvious symptoms may leave you questioning whether you need to see a doctor.

Here's a list of warning symptoms worth reading. You may find some of the symptoms surprising. But, be aware of the significance of these symptoms and when it's important to seek timely medical care. It could make a difference in your quality of life and may even save your life.

Don't ignore these symptoms

Don't ignore the following 10 signs and symptoms — some of which are not obviously alarming. But, trust that your body informs you of its needs. While some messages are more urgent than others, milder but persistent symptoms may also signal trouble.

1. Unexplained weight loss

If you find you're losing excessive weight without intending to do so, see your doctor. Unintentional excessive weight loss is considered to be a loss of more than:

5 percent of your weight within one month
10 percent of your weight within six to 12 months

An unexplained drop in weight could be caused by a number of conditions, such as an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism), depression, liver disease, cancer or other noncancerous disorders, or disorders that interfere with how well your body absorbs nutrients (malabsorption disorders).

2. Persistent fever

If you have a normal immune system and you're not undergoing treatment, such as chemotherapy for cancer, a persistent low-grade fever — over 100.4 F — should be checked if it lasts for a week or more. If you have a fever with shaking chills, or a high fever — greater than 103 F — or if you're otherwise severely ill, see your doctor as soon as possible.

If you have an immune system problem or take immune-suppressing drugs, fever may not be a reliable warning sign and your primary doctor or oncologist can tell you what would signal a need for an evaluation.

Persistent fever can signal hidden infections, which could be anything from a urinary tract infection to tuberculosis. At other times, malignant conditions — such as lymphomas — cause prolonged or persistent fevers, as can some medications and conditions, and reactions to certain drugs.

Fever is common with treatable infections, such as urinary tract infections. But if a low-grade fever persists for more than two weeks, check with your doctor. Some underlying cancers can cause prolonged, persistent fever, as can tuberculosis and other disorders.

3. Shortness of breath

Feeling short of breath — beyond the typical stuffy nose or shortness of breath from exercise — could signal an underlying health problem. If you ever find that you're unable to get your breath or that you're gasping for air or wheezing, seek emergency medical care. Feeling breathless with or without exertion or when reclining also is a symptom that needs to be medically evaluated without delay.

Causes for breathlessness may include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis, asthma, heart problems, anxiety, panic attacks, pneumonia, a blood clot in the lung (pulmonary embolism), pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension.

4. Unexplained changes in bowel habits

See your doctor if you have any of the following:

Severe diarrhea lasting more than two days
Mild diarrhea lasting a week
Constipation that lasts for more than two weeks
Unexplained urges to have a bowel movement
Bloody diarrhea
Black or tarry-colored stools

Changes in bowel habits may signal a bacterial infection — such as campylobacter or salmonella — or a viral or parasitic infection. Among other possible causes are inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer.

5. Mental status changes

Immediate medical evaluation is warranted if any of the following occur:

Sudden or gradual confused thinking
Disorientation
Sudden aggressive behavior
Hallucinations in someone who has never had them

Changes in behavior or thinking may be due to infection, head injury, stroke, low blood sugar or even medications, especially ones you've recently started taking.

6. New or more severe headaches (especially if you're over age 50)

Seek prompt medical attention if you experience:

A sudden and severe headache, often called a thunderclap headache, because it comes on suddenly like a clap of thunder.
A headache accompanied by a fever, stiff neck, rash, mental confusion, seizures, vision changes, weakness, numbness, speaking difficulties, scalp tenderness or pain with chewing.
A headache that begins or worsens after a head injury.

These headache symptoms may be caused by stroke, blood vessel inflammation (arteritis), meningitis, brain tumor, aneurysm or bleeding on the brain after head trauma.

7. Short-term loss of vision, speaking or movement control

If you have these signs and symptoms, minutes count. These are signs and symptoms of a possible stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). Seek immediate emergency medical care if you have any of the following:

Sudden weakness or numbness of the face, arm or leg on one side of your body
Sudden dimness, blurring or loss of vision
Loss of speech, or trouble talking or understanding speech
A thunderclap headache
Sudden dizziness, unsteadiness or a fall

8. Flashes of light

The sudden sensation of flashing lights may signal the beginning of retinal detachment. Immediate medical care may be needed to save vision in the affected eye.

9. Feeling full after eating very little

Feeling full sooner than normal after eating and having persistent nausea and vomiting that last more than a week are warning signs that should be checked by your doctor. There are many possible causes, including pancreatic cancer, stomach cancer and ovarian cancer.

10. Hot, red or swollen joint

These warning signs may occur with a joint infection, which requires emergency care to save the joint and keep bacteria from spreading elsewhere. Other causes may include gout or certain types of arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Why women feel safer talking to married men

2007-08-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

It’s normal for females to be wary of singles of opposite sex - Dr. Gail

By Gail Saltz, TODAYShow.com contributor

Q. I am curious as to why more women are interested in talking to me now that I am married and wearing a wedding band, as opposed to when I was single. What makes women talk to married men more than they talk to bachelors?

A. There are many reasons. Part of it might be your perception, but there are plenty of men who agree that, after they are married, more women want to talk to them.

Some single women are nervous when they interact with single guys. If both are available, there is always the possibility (however remote) that one or the other is thinking about a potential relationship. If she isn't interested, she could be worrying he will ask her out. If she is interested, she could be worrying he won't!

With a married man, there is none of the game-playing. Both of you know you can talk, banter, even flirt, and the relationship will remain as it is. So the comfort level is greater with a guy who is clearly off-limits. There is no real possibility of risking involvement, rejection and all those complicated things that come with a relationship. (Of course, married men sometimes do cross the line and enter into affairs or emotional affairs, but that is emphatically NOT what we are talking about here.)

Men themselves, after they are married, are often more comfortable around women, so they project a whole different vibe. They are not worried about whether they are making a good impression, are expected to ask her out, are being judged or rejected.

Along with that, married men are often more happy, confident and secure than they were as bachelors. This makes them more emotionally accessible and even more communicative.

Also, to some women, a married man can seem more interesting and desirable. This is because somebody else wanted him — which makes it seem he must be worth talking to.

For women with an unresolved Oedipal conflict, who are unconsciously competitive with their mother for their father, a pleasant interaction with a married man has an edge of triumph. It means she has won out over the competition. Some women work through this more than others, but there is often a component of competitiveness.

Remember, again, we are not talking about affairs here.

Dr. Gail's Bottom Line: Women are often more at ease talking to men who are married. This is largely because, once the men are off the market, they are “safe.”

Sugar Daddy vs Gold Digger

2007-08-07T08:12:00.000-07:00

Dating a younger woman

By Michael Kramer

Have you ever seen an older man dating a much younger woman and thought to yourself, “Oh, yeah. I know why they’re together”?

Well, maybe you don’t. Because I thought I knew, too—until I became one of those older men.

Katie and I met last year, when I was 41 and she was… here goes: 22. As in, one year over the legal drinking age. Contrary to the jokes my friends made, I did not meet Katie while I was buying Girl Scout cookies or waiting outside a junior high. Katie and my friend Joel are co-workers, and we met at one of his parties. We hit it off right away.

Obviously, there was an age gap, but at first, neither of us realized how much. Thankfully, it’s still considered rude to ask someone’s age when you first meet them. (The older I get, the more I appreciate that bit of social etiquette.)

Now, before you dismiss me as some old geezer trying to rationalize dating someone nearly half his age, let me just add that she asked me out. And, as luck would have it, I have this little policy that when fun, attractive women ask me out, I say yes.

What other people were saying about us…
The second we began dating, though, my friends started in with the jokes. They ranged from mild teasing (“Is she impressed that you have a car?” and “Are you sure she’s not just using you to buy her alcohol?” and “Which is her favorite Teletubby?”) to outright hostility (“What the @#?!&$ are you doing?!”).

The best was when they’d run the numbers. “When you were her age, she was in diapers!” and “Do you realize you’re closer in age to her mother than you are to her?” and “When she’s your age, you’ll be 61!” But despite what my friends were saying, Katie’s friends were saying worse. They had reduced her to a gold-digger and me to a drooling, aged sugar daddy. I repeatedly dismissed their comments, believing instead that given my genuine connection with Katie, our age difference didn’t really matter.

The difference a yearbook made
Until, that is, Katie showed me her high-school yearbook… from 2002! Her yearbook is dedicated to the victims of 9/11. (Did I mention she graduated in 2002?!) It was the first time I had ever looked through a yearbook and couldn’t mock the hair and clothes as being out of date.

In my high school yearbook, kids are wearing shirts from REO Speedwagon and the J. Geils Band concerts. Katie’s classmates are wearing shirts that said Eminem and The White Stripes. It made me wonder whether everyone was right and I did have issues. Was I going through a midlife crisis? Was it true that all men have creepy fantasies about dating women half their age?

“Am I having a midlife crisis?”
But the more I thought about it, the more I felt sure that age wasn’t a factor in my dating choices. I mean, it’s not like I have a pattern of dating much younger women. My previous girlfriends were all around my age.

It turns out Katie had been wracking her brain, too, trying to figure out whether she had daddy issues. But prior to me, she had only dated guys within her age range. Ultimately, we came to realize that what people were saying revealed more about them than about us. Our relationship had become a Rorschach test of their own prejudices and insecurities—and of our culture’s preconceptions about what my mom politely refers to as “May-December romances.”

The truth is, the older I get, the more shocked I am to be my age. It’s as though time kept moving forward, and I simply didn’t notice. When I hear an oldies station play “Start Me Up,” to me, that’s a new Rolling Stones’ song. But in other ways, I feel far surer of myself than I did at 21. And if age has taught me anything, it’s that life is too short to miss the opportunity of being with someone you like just because society makes assumptions about your relationship.

After six months of dating, Katie and I split up. While I’ll admit that age did play a part — some lack of compatibility had to do with being at different stages in our lives — it was less of a factor than the issues similar-aged couples face, like differences in personalities and religion. In the end, unlike the salacious explanations our friends gave, we started dating for the right reasons and ultimately broke up for the right reasons.

So the next time you see an older man with a younger woman or an older woman with a younger man walking by on the street and you’re trying to figure out why they’re together, remember: They might actually just like each other. (Or, of course, he might actually be her dad.)

Oprah tops list of highest paid TV stars

2007-07-31T12:23:00.000-07:00

Yahoo TV

Talk might be cheap, but Oprah is not, topping a list of the highest-paid television stars in the United States.

Oprah Winfrey, host and supervising producer of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," earns an estimated $260 million a year, according to a list in TV Guide magazine's July 23 issue. Music producer Simon Cowell, the blunt and often contentious British judge of "American Idol," placed a distant second to Winfrey, with $45 million for his role on the Fox network's smash hit talent show and other projects.

Courtroom chief Judge Judy (Judith Sheindlin), CBS News anchor Katie Couric and "Scrubs" actor Zach Braff round out the top five.

The list breaks down star salaries by category -- prime-time TV, daytime, cable and news with a partial listing below:

TOP FIVE (all salaries are per year)

Oprah Winfrey ("The Oprah Winfrey Show"): $260 million

Simon Cowell ("American Idol"): $45 million

Judge Sheindlin ("Judge Judy"): $30 million

Katie Couric ("CBS Evening News Anchor"): $15 million

Zach Braff ("Scrubs"): $6.3 million

NETWORK PRIME TIME (all salaries are per episode)

William Petersen ("CSI"): $500,000

Charlie Sheen ("Two and a Half Men"): $350,000

Mariska Hargitay ("Law & Order: SVU"): $350,000

Chris Meloni ("Law & Order: SVU"): $350,000

Hugh Laurie ("House"): $300,000

Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("New Adventures of Old Christine"): $225,000

Ellen Pompeo ("Grey's Anatomy"): $200,000

Eva Longoria ("Desperate Housewives"): $200,000

DAYTIME (all salaries are per year)

Judge Judy: $30 million

Bob Barker: $10 million

Maury Povich (per year plus profits): $7 million

Ellen DeGeneres: $5 million

Jerry Springer: $3 million - 4 million

Tyra Banks: $3.5 million

NEWS ANCHORS (all salaries are per year)

Katie Couric ("CBS Evening News" anchor): $15 million

Matt Lauer (NBC "Today" co-anchor): $12 million

Meredith Vieira (NBC "Today" co-anchor): $10 million

11 Things Women Don't Know About Men

2007-07-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

By Evan Marc Katz Special to Yahoo! Personals

1. Getting angry at us for not reading your mind is like getting angry at yourself for not being able to fly. It's not just futile, it's physically impossible.

2. Yes, we do think Jessica Alba is hot. Sometimes we're even dumb enough to admit it.

3. Don't ask us to understand your shoe fetish. Asking us to respect it is even sort of pushing it.

4. You do look good without makeup, just not as good as you look with it.

5. Ever notice how we don't fight with our male friends? That's why we get so frustrated when we fight with you.

6. You care what you're wearing infinitely more than we do. In fact, if you're naked when you open the front door, you won't hear an argument from us.

7. You don't like to get hit on in public, you don't want to date online and you don't want to be set up on blind dates. Tell us if sending messenger pigeons is an appropriate way of courting. Because if it is, we're all over it.

8. There should be a statute of limitations on stupid things that we said that can come back to haunt us. I propose 24 hours.

9. Cooking dinner for a man is like buying flowers for a woman, except it takes a lot more time, effort and thought for you to do it. Thanks. We appreciate it.

10. We actually like your girly pet-names for us, but please, not in front of the guys!

11. Just because we like looking at the women in Maxim doesn't mean we want to actually converse with the women in Maxim. Not for long, anyway.

Plus one thing they probably do know, but won't admit

12. Your nice guy friends are the most reliable source for telling you if your new boyfriend's a jerk. And he probably is. (By the way, you might want to consider marrying that nice guy who's giving you advice about the jerk.)

Best Days to Shop for Certain Items

2007-07-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

By Kelli B. Grant

Another day, another deal.

Thanks to online coupons, price-comparison search engines and reward memberships, savvy shoppers can pay less than full price on any day that ends in "y." But depending on what you're planning to buy, some days of the week may yield better bargains than others.

We talked to the experts, and narrowed down the best days of the week to buy certain items.

Airplane Tickets
When to Buy: Wednesday morning.
Why: "Most airfare sales are thrown out there on the weekend," says travel expert Peter Greenberg, a.k.a. The Travel Detective. Other airlines then jump into the game, discounting their own fares and prompting further changes by the first airline. The fares reach their lowest prices late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

Books
When to Buy: Thursday.
Why: Price compare between major chains Borders and Barnes & Noble. The former releases its weekly sales and coupons on every Thursday; the latter, every Tuesday.

Cars
When to Buy: Monday.
Why: "Car dealers live for the weekend, which is when they make most of their sales," says Phil Reed, consumer advice editor for Edmunds.com. "On Mondays, the low foot traffic makes it seem like the weekend will never come." That dealer desperation, paired with fewer consumers on the lot, give you more negotiating power.

Clothing
When to Buy: Thursday evening.
Why: That's the day when stores stock their shelves for the weekend, and when many retailers — including Ann Taylor, Banana Republic and Express — start their weekend promotions, says Kathryn Finney, author of "How to Be a Budget Fashionista." You'll find great prices and the best selection. "It's an effort to get people to shop in the middle of the week," she says.

Department-Store Wares
When to Buy: Saturday evening.
Why: Department stores have a lot to mark down for their Sunday circulars, so they frequently start the process on Saturday evenings before store closing, says Finney. "They're preparing for the big rush," she says. Bonus: Even if the markdowns haven't been made, many employees will honor the sale price if you ask. Print out the circular preview from the store's web site, and bring it with you when you head to the mall.

Dinner Out
When to Buy: Tuesday.
Why: Most restaurants do not receive food deliveries over the weekend. "Sunday is the garbage-can day of the week," says Kate Krader, senior editor at Food & Wine magazine. "No doubt, they're cleaning out their fridges. Tuesdays, they're starting fresh." Dining out on that day offers the best odds you'll get a meal worth paying for, no matter your price point, she says.

Entertainment
When to Buy: Wednesday.
Why: Plenty of movie theaters, amusement parks and museums offer extra discounts to consumers who visit midweek. Six Flags theme parks offer a $12 discount to AAA members — three times its usual discount of $4. AMC Theatres offers members in its free AMC Movie Watcher reward program a free small popcorn on Wednesdays. (This summer, it's also the day select theaters offer free Summer Movie Camp screenings.)

Gas
When to Buy: Thursday, before 10 a.m.
Why: The price of oil isn't the only factor influencing costs at your local pump. Consumer usage plays a role, too — and weekend demand is high, says Jason Toews, co-founder of GasBuddy.com, a price-monitoring site. Prices usually swing upward on Thursdays as travelers fuel up to head out the following day. By hitting the pump before 10 a.m. (when many station owners change their prices), you'll beat the rush and the price jump.

Groceries
When to Buy: Sunday — or Tuesday.
Why: Maximize savings by combining store sales, which run from Wednesday to Tuesday, with the latest round of coupons from your Sunday paper, says Mary Hunt, publisher of Debt-Proof Living, a money-saving newsletter. "It's a smart idea to wait until you have those in hand to match up with the week's sale items," she says.

To snag savings on items you don't need just yet, shop on Tuesday, advises Hunt. Chances are, the store will have run out of the sale items. "That means you can pick up rain checks, which allow you to buy those items later when you need them, and at the sale price," she says.

Hotel Rooms
When to Buy: Sunday.
Why: There are two kinds of hotel managers, and the kind that won't give you a discount on your room rate has Sundays off, says Greenberg. Call the hotel directly, and ask to speak with the manager on duty or the director of sales. These employees are open to negotiation, he says. They'd rather have a booked room at a discounted rate than an empty room. (The rest of the week, your call would get you a so-called revenue manager, who monitors profits — and is rarely willing to lower rates.)

27 things to know about women

2007-07-10T12:50:00.000-07:00

By David Wygant, Special to Yahoo! Personals

Over the last 10 years of coaching men, I have been asked time and time again to come up with a list of the best secrets for meeting, approaching and attracting great women.

Well, guys, there is no magic pickup line that will work in every situation, but there are guidelines that will help you understand a woman better, so you can be more successful in making a connection.

For those of you interested in being successful with women for the rest of your lives, take note of these simple things that will help you understand women far better than you do now.

10 secrets you need to know

All women like surprises; women believe they should be surprised at least once a month.
All women have fantasies. A man should take the time to find out her fantasy.
Women want a man to be sensitive yet fight for them if they needed to.
Women want a man to be gentle and rough at the same time.
Women want to be told they're beautiful, then after a time told they're sexy.
Women want their man to notice when another man tries to pick them up, but refrain from jealousy.
Women will alter their appearance with a new hairstyle or buy something skimpy for themselves, not a man.
A woman will groom herself that day if there is a chance for her to meet someone that night.
Women believe in the fairytale and will look at most men in the first 30 seconds as if they could be the prince they have been looking for.
If a woman really likes a man, she will spend all day trying to look good for him and still not feel perfect, yet at times she will not be made up and feel perfect.

10 ways make yourself attractive to woman

Be confident in who you are.
Have a sense of humor.
Show good manners.
Be respectful.
Be controversial.
Be sensitive.
Ask her what she wants and likes.
Don't just tell her you do, but put your trust in her.
Tell her about one time your feelings got hurt.
Kiss her softly, then kiss her passionately.

7 sure-fire ways to repulse a woman

Tell her what you don't want her to wear.
Look at another woman while talking to her.
Show her that you have no direction in your life.
Be too proud of your qualities.
Drink too much or have a serious addiction.
Insult her style, friends or family.
Use stupid pickup lines like: "Do you want to have sex?" "Can I smell your roses?" "Baby, that's the sweetest butt I've ever seen!" "Hey you, come here!"

The best pickup line

Observe what she is doing, then walk over and have a conversation about what is going on at that moment. For example, she is in the video store and looking at "The Departed." You can either ask her about the movie and what she knows about it, or if you saw it you can say, "Loved that movie...." and start the conversation from there.

Look sharp in flats - favorite picks for ballet-inspired footwear

2007-07-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

Deborah Hopewell, Yahoo! Shopping Editor

When Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw and gal pals reunite this fall for the big-screen follow-up to "Sex and the City," could it be possible that her Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo heels will be replaced by the new fashion must-have - ballet flats?

"Women have begun demanding more comfort with their style," says "America's Shoe Expert" Meghan Cleary, who writes about shoes for the New York Daily News and the Huffington Post, and is the author of "The Perfect Fit: What Your Shoes Say About You." And ballet flats, says Cleary, fit the bill perfectly.

The ballet flat evokes the glamorous Hollywood days of such willowy beauties such as Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly - yet it's a flattering look on just about anyone. They pair especially well with capris, knee-length or shorter skirts, leggings and shorts (save the heels for wearing with longer pants, dress and skirts, as flats will make you look shorter).

"The average heel height has skyrocketed," says Cleary. "Heels in the '60s were 1½-2 inches. Now they can even go 5 or 6 inches," says Cleary. "Women do react to that. They are going into the marketplace and looking for something to look acceptable to wear to work, out on the town, with a cute mini or tight jeans - any which way. It's a cute shoe, but it's comfortable. Women get very attached to that."

However, Cleary warns that because flats are, well, flat, there isn't a lot of support, and that can be uncomfortable for some. "Make sure they have a solid sole on them, and maybe more than just a little strip of leather on them." She suggests the "twist test": Hold the toe in one hand, the heel in the other and gently twist the shoe. "If it's really flexible, you shouldn't buy it. It shouldn't be hard, but it shouldn't be really flexible."

And says, Cleary, look for the ballet-flat trend to continue into the fall and winter. "We're going to keep seeing them," she says.

Here are some of our favorites:

• If you have hours of sightseeing or shopping to do, but still want to do it in style, nothing beats Linea Paolo's patent leather "Miranda." These flats are elasticized around the top, so they'll stay snug on your feet no matter how many miles you put on them. And the best part? The colors: red, black, fruit green and grey blue.

• There's nothing that says fun more than polka dots. The Joie "Rapture" flat has big, bold white dots hand-painted on a black canvas upper, trimmed with grosgrain ribbon and finished with a silver-painted sole. This shoe can go all day long by pairing it with white shorts or skirts for daytime, then with a little black dress for evening.

• Sam Edelman's "Carrie" carries a delicate T-strap design into fashion-forward territory by using surprising material: snake-print leather in silver, black matte, or cream and black.

• Taryn Rose is the orthopedic surgeon/businesswoman behind her namesake shoe collection, which she started after realizing how difficult it is for women to find attractive shoes that are also comfortable. Especially pretty is the "Bijou," featuring a ruched keyhole design in buttery-soft napa leather.

• For a great fall-into-winter shoe, the Corso Como "Jackie" flat is a great choice, in black or grey suede with contrasting trim, ribbon lacing and bow. These would be a wonderful choice to wear with sweater tights and a short wool skirt.

• Delman, founded in 1919, has been making ballet flats since the 1940s, says Cleary. It's "Work" flat has a classic look, but looks particularly contemporary in a variety of cotton stripes: cream/beige, melon/beige or turquoise/green. These pair perfectly with a lightweight tea-length skirt or skinny jeans.

• Go wild with animal prints, a look with staying power. Lauren by Ralph Lauren's "Camila" features a leopard print in calf-hair and suede.

• Want to show a little toe? Steve Madden's "Elpha" flat features a peep toe and an ankle strap in glamorous gold or pewter leather.

• Target's Xhilaration "Sable" ballet flats come in a wide assortment of fabrics, textures and colors, including black and white floral, multicolored ribbon "tapestry," brown with beige pin-dot polka dots and black eyelet. Best of all, they are affordable enough to add several pairs to your closet.

10 Compliments That Wow a Man

2007-07-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

By David Zinczenko

From an early age, men get hammered with the same message about how to treat women: More compliments, more listening, more romance. That's all well and good, as it should be. But sometimes, especially as relationships progress, men can also feel on the short-end of the fawning stick: Nearly 70 percent of men say they wish they received more regular compliments from their partner. I'm not suggesting that every guy has to be coddled and cuddled with verbal roses, but every once in a while, it's nice to throw one his way. While guys aren't particularly amped by compliments like "nice eyes" or "you're so beautiful," there are a few, simple things a woman can say to a man that really get him going. To wit:

"Your arms are definitely looking bigger."

Men can be just as paranoid about the way their bodies look as women can be. In fact, nearly 90 percent of men in a national Men, Love & Sex survey say there's at least one body part they'd like to change (42 percent saying they want a new gut). While men don't necessarily want women to lie if they're out of shape, it never hurts to notice he's looking good -- or at least trying to look better.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha."

Guys spend all of high school, the better part of the work day, and at least 12 times a day via e-mail trying to make people laugh. Because men value their sense of humor as one of their most important qualities, a hearty, genuine laugh is as flattering as it gets.

"Wow."

Doesn't matter whether it comes as he's getting undressed or after you've finished having sex, this short, sweet word (best done in a whisper) may just be the ultimate ego-stroke. A picture may say a thousand words, but this three-letter word sums up roughly 10,000 of them.

"You the man."

Guys hear this all the time. From other guys. They hear it at work, on the golf course, and when one dude from the group buys the beer. But if it comes from a woman -- no matter the context -- the message is that, hey, we're buddies, too. Which is actually pretty darn sexy.

"The kids just adore you."

More than 50 percent of men say that their families -- more so than work and salary -- are what defines them most as men. So when a woman affirms that he's a familial hero, it's a compliment that stretches way beyond anything you could ever say about his haircut.

"What do you think?"

We've all seen it a million times with long-married couples: They engage in cerebral power struggles, where neither can concede on anything -- whether it's the best way to move a piece of furniture or the fastest way to reach the interstate. I'm not saying that men should have the only say in decisions, but some guys do feel like they actually have very little.

"Cute feet."

Typically, it doesn't matter much to men if women like a part of their body that they don't control, like their eyes, jawline, or body hair. And typically, guys care for the word "cute" about as much as Paris cares for the penal system. One exception: The part of the body that is classified as being especially gross. Tell a guy he has good feet, and somehow he takes it as a double-bagger compliment -- that you not only like his genetics, but also that you appreciate he can keep himself better groomed than the rest of the gnarly-nailed heathens out there.

"Meow."

The stats show that 61 percent of men think their partners aren't sexually adventurous enough. While a feline one-liner doesn't automatically qualify as adventurous, it does show a bit of inhibition, and the message is one he likes to hear: That perhaps he's brought a little bit of the animal out of you.

"Impressive."

Guys love feats. They love accomplishments. They love being acknowledged for their strength, power, and, simply, their masculinity. So a well-timed observation like this one -- whether it comes after he carries a TV to the family room or figures out a way to fix the pipes without having to call the plumber -- feeds into his need to feel like the family protector.

"I want you."

Women don't need to go on about a guy's eyes or hair or clothes. What a guy really wants to hear is that he's the total package, and this acknowledgement of that -- whether it's referring to bedroom behavior or relationship stability -- is the ultimate compliment of them all.

Define a Guy from his Celeb Crush

2007-07-10T11:45:00.000-07:00

What His Celeb Crush Says About Him

By David Zinczenko

Throughout their lives, men have all kinds of crushes. When they're growing up, they may have crushes on their teachers. When they're all grown up, crushes can come in the form of co-workers, neighbors, coffee pourers, spinning instructors, you name it.

The thing about most crushes, though, is that they tend to fade faster than Fantasia's career. Easy come, easy go. One kind of crush that sticks with a guy: the celebrity crush.

About four in five men say they fantasize about other women, with a good many of them saying that famous women are the stars of the show. Though the characters may change from time to time, guys often choose their celebrity crushes based on some deeper longing for what they want in women.

Early on, the overriding factor may have been the prevalence of skin (Bo, Farrah, Pamela, and SI swimsuit models being excellent examples). But as men grow up, it's more than just physical attraction to the kind of woman he features in his cerebral movie theater - it's the total package that includes not only her looks, but what her looks, lifestyle, and personality may also represent.

If he fantasizes about...Angelina Jolie
It may mean... He's attracted to a do-gooder woman who also isn't afraid to show a bit of a wild streak. It's the reason why Jolie tops so many men's wish lists: They want the woman who is good, but not too good. And the woman who is sultry, but not too sultry.

If he fantasizes about...Jennifer Aniston
It may mean... Attracted to Aniston's innocent persona, he likes the girl next door and yearns to be the household protector. Though traditional gender roles have certainly changed and evolved over the last several decades, many men still enjoy playing the role of the prince who rescues the damsel in distress.

If he fantasizes about...The young, troubled beauties (Paris, Lindsay, Britney)
It may mean... He's attracted to risk-takers-and women who don't care what other women may think about them. That, and perhaps the boy has got more loose screws than a hardware store.

If he fantasizes about...Halle Berry, Scarlett Johansson
It may mean... That he has darn good taste. Physically, they represent classic feminine beauty-their curves, their skin, their heart-stopping faces. That may mean he has very high standards-and seeks relationship perfection.

If he fantasizes about...Julianne Moore, Michelle Pfeiffer
It may mean...He appreciates that experience, knowledge, and just the right amount of sass and humor goes a long way to making for strong relationships. Mrs. Robinson jokes aside, he appreciates maturity-and all the good things that come with it.

If he fantasizes about...Pam Anderson
It may mean... Do I really have to say it?

If he fantasizes about...Beyonce, J. Lo, Fergie, Janet
It may mean... That he's not only into curves and lovely lady humps, but that he's also into women who have some relationship rhythm. He wants a woman who's able to let loose, show her moves, and someone who's confident being on center stage-sexually and socially.

If he fantasizes about...Any character from Grey's Anatomy
It may mean... That he's a sensitive dude. Not because he's got a thing for Meredith, Izzie, or the rest of the crew, but because-instead of being at a bar or a ball game-he's obviously sitting next to you on Thursday nights.

Bottom line on all this: Fantasy crushes are kind of like practice for the big game, allowing someone to keep one's emotions and instincts in check while imagining the big event with a partner. So encourage the crushes, and keep him primed for the real thing. And speaking of such things, I'd love to hear who your biggest crush objects are (and why). Share them here.

Knut goes solo, not appearing with keeper any more

2007-07-09T09:48:00.000-07:00

Associated Press

The show is over: The Berlin zoo's fast-growing polar bear cub, Knut, won't be appearing anymore with the keeper who raised him.

The zoo said Monday that it has ended 7-month-old Knut's twice-daily public appearances with keeper Thomas Doerflein.

The playful pair have delighted audiences since Knut — then an irresistibly cute 20-pound cub — made his first public appearance in late March. Now nearing about 110 pounds, the boisterous bear, who will remain on public view, will have his enclosure all to himself.

"Mr. Doerflein's safety counts first of all, of course," zoo spokeswoman Regine Damm said. The zoo also has Knut's independence in mind, she added, as it prepares the bear to "associate with other bears and not with other people."

Born Dec. 5, Knut has been raised by Doerflein and other zoo staff since his mother rejected him and another cub that died. Knut went on public show March 23.

Doerflein said he remains on hand for Knut, although he will no longer play in public with the growing predator.

"This doesn't mean that I will never play with Knut again; it just means there are no fixed times anymore," he was quoted as saying by the daily B.Z. "I am always there for him. Knut is still a child; he needs me."

Doerflein said, however, that he feels "burnt out" after months of frolicking with Knut, and made clear that he has not always enjoyed being a celebrity in his own right.

"That is the worst thing. People want autographs, to touch me," he said. "When I am with my girlfriend, they invite me (for a drink); when I say 'no,' they get aggressive."

Five Tips for Being Happy Where You Live

2007-07-09T04:35:00.000-07:00

By Penelope Trunk

Where you choose to live has enormous impact on how happy you are, but not for the reasons you probably think. And you need to know how location impacts your happiness in order to make a good decision about where to live.

We all know that a bigger house doesn't make people happier, and I write all the time about how more money doesn't, either. So you shouldn't choose a place to live based on where you can get a job that pays the most money, or where you can buy a house with the most square-footage. Instead, take a look at what really affects happiness, and make decisions based on that.

More Than Location, Location, Location

As I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, I moved from New York City to Madison, Wis., after collecting a few years' worth of research on the topic of happiness in order to make the right decision. The most interesting part of the research, perhaps, is that there's research at all.

The field of positive psychology has been around long enough to become an established discipline in universities, but it's new enough that when we apply it to our everyday lives it tends to shake up long-held assumptions -- especially when it comes to choosing where to live.

To that end, here are some factors to guide your own choice:

1. You need to earn the median income for your neighborhood.

It's true that money doesn't buy happiness, but you'll never feel secure if you don't earn as much as the people around you. You're much more likely to feel that the amount you earn is fine if it's as much as your friends and neighbors earn. And if you earn the most in your neighborhood, you'll probably feel like you're pretty well off. Money is relative.

This explains why the year my tax return showed that I had an income of about $200,000, I often felt like I was living just a few short steps from homelessness. And I'm not alone -- New Yorkers talk about that phenomenon all the time.

2. Remember that you'll change careers at least three times.

Your job isn't stable, and neither is your career, so be careful about picking a location just because it's good for your work right now.

In a family with two people who have jobs outside the house, it's impractical to relocate every time one of them takes a new job. So it makes sense to think in terms of picking a location largely independent of your career.

Do you care a lot about schools? Or being near the beach? These are things to weigh heavily when picking a location, and then figure out what kind of work to do when you get there.

The act of choosing a place to live requires you to balance a lot of competing factors, but don't give work too much weight. There's little evidence to show that a good job makes you happy -- only that you need to limit the detrimental factors that come with some jobs, because things like a long commute and a crazy boss can really hurt your chances of being happy.

3. More choices don't make you more happy.

In fact, the more choices you have, the harder it is to make good decisions. You don't need to have a lot of bars to choose from in order to go out with your friends at night, and more restaurants don't bring you a sense of well being.

People mistakenly believe that more choice is good in most cases, but in many instances it makes life more complicated for no good reason. So before you tell yourself that you need to live somewhere with multitudes of opportunity and excitement, consider that no location has everything, and other factors will give you a lot more bang for your buck in the happiness department.

4. There's no free lunch when it comes to schools.

The nature of public schools in the United States makes finding an inexpensive city with a top-ranked school system pretty much impossible. If you want your kids to be in a school district that ranks high for academic achievement, then study the rankings before you move.

Once you live somewhere, it's human nature to tell yourself that whatever school district you're in is fine for your kids. Before you move, you'll be much more able to objectively evaluate the school possibilities.

5. Live where the people you love live.

Where you live has about the same influence on your personal happiness as what you do for work -- that is, much less than your personal relationships. The biggest thing you can do to create happiness in your life is to cultivate and maintain intimate, reliable relationships with people.

If you have friends you see once a week, you'll live longer. If you have friends at work, you'll like your job. If you have friends who provide emergency child care, you're likely to be a happy working parent.

Friends can change your life, if you have them. So live where your friends and loved ones live, and the other issues won't matter so much.

Will 7-7-07 be your lucky day?

2007-07-07T06:11:00.000-07:00

By WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press Writer

Seven heaven for weddings

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - With apologies to Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry, this Saturday you've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?"

Lots of people do, for one simple reason. Saturday will be July 7, 2007, or 7-7-07. In numerological terms, that's about as big as it gets for the superstitious.

People are booking gambling junkets, casinos are offering "7"-themed promotions, and about three times the normal number of couples plan to get married that day, including Eva Longoria and basketball player boyfriend Tony Parker.

Nearly 100 couples will tie the knot atop roller coasters or inside revolving teacups at amusement parks at 7 that morning, a California yogi plans to achieve massive harmony through gong meditation at 7 that night, and Christians will gather in a Tennessee football stadium to pray on a day that has good Biblical implications for many.

Experts are quick to point out that Saturday is no more or less likely to be lucky than any other day. But try telling that to Allen Windrim, a 20-something entrepreneur from Philadelphia who owns a real estate management firm, a collection agency and a construction company.

"Hopefully I can get all my vacancies filled that day, all my collection cases settled without going to court, and get seven jobs for the construction company worth seventy-thousand each," he said.

"And then I'll take all that money and put it on Number Seven," he said. "I'm definitely in Atlantic City that day."

Casinos across the country are rolling heavy doses of sevens to attract superstitious gamblers, everything from $7 drink specials to luxury watches selling for $777. The Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City is offering a $7,777 package that includes a bi-level suite, two tickets to a show and the spa, and dining and shopping credits.

Craps players — among the most superstitious gamblers — have been buzzing for weeks about Lucky 7 Day, said Mario DiGuiseppe, the Tropicana's vice president of casino operations.

Asked if he believes in luck or superstition, DiGuiseppe responded with the certainty of one who knows that the odds always favor the house.

"I believe in math," he said with a chuckle.

Math is no obstacle for William Mobley of Philadelphia, who plans to be in Atlantic City on Saturday.

"I got a feeling about that day," he said. "I'll win over $700. Everything will go people's way that day. At least hopefully mine."

Gambles of a different sort will take couples down the aisle. Kathleen Murray, deputy editor of The Knot said 38,000 of the company's members are getting married that day, up from the normal 12,000 for a Saturday in July.

"This is a true phenomenon," she said. "I've never seen anything like this before. Seven has always been considered the luckiest number, and with three sevens in a row brides and grooms feel they're hitting the jackpot that day."

One of them is Jennifer Dybas, 27, of Channahom, Ill., whose fiancee, Jeff Michalek, 34, is a fanatical poker player. Their wedding theme: Lucky In Love.

"We're giving out instant lottery tickets as favors, and we have little chocolate poker chips with `777 — Lucky In Love' written on them," she said. "Our cake has dice on top and a roulette wheel on the bottom, and the king and queen of hearts on it."

"We got the last ballroom at the country club, the last DJ available at the place we went to, and the last photographer at the photo studio we wanted," she said. "So the luck is starting already."

Other brides chose the day for a more practical reason. "Some brides say their husbands will have no excuse to ever forget their anniversary this way," Murray said.

The Six Flags amusement park chain is hosting seven wedding receptions at 7 a.m. at each of its 12 U.S. facilities. They're calling the event "Thrilled Ever After."

The Ritz Carlton Hotel's Central Park location in New York is offering a July 7 wedding package with a reception for 77, a seven-tier wedding cake, seven Tiffany diamonds for the bride, and a seven-night honeymoon at any Ritz in the world for $77,777.

The day has big noncommercial potential as well. Harijiwan, a yoga instructor in Santa Monica, Calif., who uses only one name, plans a gong meditation course at 7 p.m.

"The numerology on this day — 7-7-07 — is phenomenal," he wrote on his Web site. "Seven represents the aura. Three sevens equals 21 (2+13). Three represents the positive mind. Add the 7 p.m. hour and you have four sevens, which equals 28 (2+810). Ten is the radiant body."

Christians will gather in the Nashville football stadium where the Tennessee Titans play to pray and fast on the 7th.

"The number is significant in the Bible because seven represents a covenant," said Julia Richardson, a spokeswoman for the event, titled The Call. "We feel we want to make a covenant with the Lord to pursue him. Whether it's 1,000 people or 100,000 people, we feel we can bring about a change through prayer and fasting."

Not everyone is greeting the date with enthusiasm. July 7 is the second anniversary of the London terrorist bombings that killed 52 people, and Great Britain has been at high states of readiness since an attack on the Glasgow airport and foiled car bombings at Picadilly Circus within the last week.

Longoria and Parker wed in civil ceremony

2007-07-06T14:31:00.000-07:00

Associated Press

Stretch limo for her; minivan for him and a romantic Paris wedding for both.

Professional basketball star Tony Parker married "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria at a civil ceremony in Paris on Friday a prelude to their expected star-studded weekend wedding bash at a lavish and storied chateau.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe officiated and gave a speech saying how happy he was that they were married in the City of Light, said the mayor of Paris' 4th District, Dominique Bertinotti.

Longoria, 32, showed up first in a white stretch limo, wearing a way-above-the-knee pink Chanel dress with striped black and white straps. She was accompanied by about eight guests in cream, pink and purple dresses. She turned, smiled and waved for the crowd of waiting photographers and reporters who were kept well back behind two rows of police barriers.

Longoria then changed into a short white dress for the ceremony, said Bertinotti whose office acted as the dressing room.

Parker, the 25-year-old San Antonio Spurs star who was born in Belgium and grew up playing basketball in France, arrived about 10 minutes later in a gray minivan, wearing a dark suit. He went straight in without waving. French soccer star Thierry Henry was in his group.

In between, other guests arrived in a Humvee stretch limo.

The ceremony, in a room with blue-and-white trimmed walls, a French flag and a portrait of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, lasted about 45 minutes. Bertinotti said there was a small reception afterward that also lasted about 45 minutes.

French law requires couples who marry to make their vows official at a city hall, even if they have a church wedding as well.

Parker translated Delanoe's speech into English for the guests, who numbered about 40.

"It was very joyous, very nice," Bertinotti said. "The atmosphere was very warm and very authentic."

The couple left in a black Mercedes sedan with tinted windows.

They were thought to be planning a second wedding ceremony Saturday at a Paris church that used to serve French royals. Then, they and their guests were to party at Vaux-le-Vicomte, a 17th century chateau 34 miles southeast of Paris.

In an interview with Le Parisien published Friday, Parker said he was eager to have kids.

"That would be even better than my NBA titles, even if I don't compare private life and sports," he told the newspaper. "Eva talks to me about it all the time. I'd like to have girls, because I come from a world of boys."

He also said he considers himself "the luckiest guy in the world."

Bill Gates no longer world's richest man?

2007-07-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

Mexican tycoon passes Bill Gates as planet's richest person

Yahoo News (AFP)

Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu has overtaken Microsoft founder Bill Gates as the richest person on the planet, the Mexican financial website Sentido Comun reported.

Sentido Comun said the Mexican billionaire's wealth had rocketed past Gates following the red-hot performance of his telecommunications firm, America Movil.

US-based Forbes magazine, renowned for its rankings of the world's wealthiest individuals, updated its listings in April to rank Slim as the second richest individual in the world, as he bested the legendary US investor Warren Buffett.

The Mexican financial website said Slim's lead over Gates amounted to billions of dollars.

"Thanks to a 26.5-percent rise in the shares of America Movil during the second quarter, Slim, who controls a 33-percent interest in Latin America's largest mobile phone company, is substantially richer than Gates," Sentido Comun said.

"The difference between their two fortunes is around nine billion dollars in favor of Slim," the financial website claimed.

It said it had based its calculations largely on the share price movements of companies controlled by Slim.

The website said soaring performances from Slim's other business interests had also helped propel him past Gates.

Aside from America Movil, Slim controls the INBURSA financial group and the Grupo Carso industrial firm with interests spanning retail stores, coffee shops and restaurants.

One reason for Slim's meteoric rise might be because he is also still working.

Gates stepped aside as Microsoft chief in 2000 to devote his energies to the philanthropic foundation he runs with his wife, Melinda.

Forbes in April had pegged Slim's wealth at a staggering 53.1 billion dollars, and said Gates was sitting on a 56-billion-dollar fortune.

Slim, the son of Lebanese immigrants, has had business in his blood from his early days when he helped out in his father's shop, "The Star of the Orient."

The 67-year-old started out in real estate and was already affluent enough when he graduated from university with an engineering degree to buy stakes in a stock brokerage and a bottling firm.

During the crippling Latin American economic crisis of the early 1980s, Slim snapped up and reformed a number of distressed businesses, banking massive profits for Grupo Carso.

Carso gained its name from the first three letters of Slim's name and the first two of his late wife's, Soumaya Gemayel.

Analysts say one of Slim's smartest and most lucrative deals occurred when he took control of Telefonos de Mexico (Telemex) in 1990 as the then government moved to privatize the sprawling monopoly.

Slim oversaw a 1.8-billion-dollar investment to take over Telemex, but he then overhauled the company and expanded its service as the telecom firm became the star of the Mexican stock exchange and more than returned Slim's initial investment.

The Mexican billionaire has also made some savvy stock picks.

In 1997, he bought about three percent of Apple Computer at 17 dollars a share shortly before the company launched its hit iMac computer. Twelve months later, Apple's shares topped 100 dollars.

Despite his vast riches, Slim reportedly shuns corporate jets and flashy offices and sported a plastic watch during the 1990s.

Widowed in 1999, Slim has boosted his philanthropic presence and overseen his three sons' careers within his business empire.

Like Gates, he has developed a strong profile on the philanthropic front.

Earlier this month he allied himself with the foundation of former US president Bill Clinton and with Canadian mining magnate Frank Giustra to launch an anti-poverty campaign in Latin America.

Fifty-three percent of Mexico's population of 104 million live in poverty, which is defined as living on less than two dollars a day, World Bank data show.

Nepalese girl stripped of her title as a 'Living goddess'

2007-07-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA, Associated Press Writer

A 10-year-old Nepalese girl was stripped of her title as a living goddess because she traveled overseas to promote a documentary about the centuries-old tradition, an official said Tuesday.

Sajani Shakya had her status revoked because she broke with tradition by leaving the country, said Jaiprasad Regmi, chief of the government trust that manages the affairs of the living goddesses.

Sajani is among several "Kumaris," or living goddesses, in Nepal, and as one of the kingdom's top three, is forbidden from leaving the country. However, last month she went to the United States and other countries to promote a British documentary about the living goddesses of the Katmandu Valley. She is to return to Nepal this week.

"We have begun the process to search for a new Kumari," said Regmi, adding that a task force would determine suitable candidates.

Ishbel Whitaker, director of the film "Living Goddess" said she was shocked and saddened by this news and would make sure the girl's education was provided for. "The rule of not being able to leave was never a rule before.... Nobody ever said the Kumari can't travel" she said by telephone from London.

Whitaker said they filmed in Bhaktapur for a year. "We had been speaking with people we felt were authorities, and now these others are claiming they are," she said.

The film crew consulted anthropologists, the head priests of Sajani's temple and her parents, the director said. And she said the Nepalese Embassy helped arrange Sajani's trip to the U.S.

Living goddesses are worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists. The girls are selected between the ages of 2 and 4 after going through several tests.

They are required to have perfect skin, hair, eyes and teeth, they shouldn't have scars or wounds, and shouldn't be afraid of the dark. They always wear red, pin up their hair in topknots and a "third eye" is painted on their forehead.

Devotees touch the girls' feet with their foreheads, the highest sign of respect among Hindus in Nepal.

During religious festivals the girls are wheeled around on a chariot pulled by devotees. Living goddesses usually keep their title until their first menstruation.

The main Kumari lives a sequestered life in a palatial temple in the capital, Katmandu. She has a few selected playmates and is allowed outside only a few times a year for festivals.

Others like Sajani are allowed to stay at home, attend regular school and take part in festivals.

The government last year announced a monthly pension of $40 for serving and retired Kumaris. Previously, the main Kumari received only a gold coin during an annual festival and the other girls received whatever was offered by devotees.

Nepalese folklore holds that men who marry a former Kumari will die young, and so many girls remain unmarried and face a life of hardship.

Critics have said the tradition violates both international and Nepalese laws on child rights. But the film director said the Kumari tradition can be modern as well.

"Sajani seemed to be a great example of how the tradition can move into the modern age," Whitaker said. She said she made the film because the living goddess tradition is beautiful and worth capturing before it disappears.

Woods played U.S. Open while wife was in hospital

2007-07-05T06:06:00.000-07:00

By JOSEPH WHITE, AP Sports Writer

There was the slightest crack in Tiger Woods' voice when he did a TV interview after walking off the 18th green at the U.S. Open, where he finished a close second.

Now we know why.

Woods revealed Tuesday that his wife, Elin, was admitted to the hospital on Thursday of the U.S. Open, experiencing complications as she prepared to deliver the couple's first child.

"It wasn't life-threatening or anything, but she just had a few problems and had to be admitted," Woods said. "It wasn't easy. It was not easy, because I wanted to be there. And the doctor and Elin said, 'There's nothing you can do. So go out there and just get a "W."'

"Well, came close. But that night was infinitely more rewarding than any 'W' ever could have been."

Talk of Daddy Tiger nearly threatened to overshadow the real reason for his appearance at Congressional Country Club: his new PGA Tour tournament, the AT&T National, which tees off Thursday.

Vague and guarded at times but emotional at others, Woods spoke for the first time about the birth of Sam Alexis Woods on the morning of June 18 and his subsequent first 2 1/2 weeks of fatherhood.

As often is the case when discussing his private life, Woods was scant on details. Asked to give a timeline of the night of his daughter's birth, he said simply: "I flew, landed in Orlando, went straight to the hospital and next thing you know, we have Sam Alexis in our arms."

Asked if he would have returned to Oakmont the next day for an 18-hole playoff had he birdied the final hole to tie leader Angel Cabrera, Woods said: "Well, that didn't happen, so it would be all hypothetical. I'm not going down that road."

Asked how he managed to focus on his game those four days, he said: "You just do. You just do."

"You've got to understand," said Notah Begay, Woods' longtime friend and teammate at Stanford. "When you grow up with a father and a military background, you've got to learn how to focus when you're getting yelled at, and you've got to learn how to focus when you have distractions.

"I would have to say when he's on the golf course, he's a golfer. And once he steps off, then he's a celebrity, he's a father, he's a husband -- just go down the list, depending on what situation he's in," Begay said. "But I think in that particular instance, he was so focused on winning that golf tournament and knowing that his wife was strong enough to deal with the things that she was dealing with. Give her some credit, too."

The subject of Woods' late father, a former Green Beret who served two tours in Vietnam, came up frequently as Woods spoke about his newborn. He named his daughter Sam, for instance, because that's what Earl Woods used to call Tiger Woods, even though Tiger's real name is Eldrick.

"We wanted to have a name that would be meaningful to either side of the family, my side or Elin's side, because she was born (the day after) Father's Day," Woods said. "It just happened to fit. My father had always called me Sam since the day I was born. He rarely ever called me Tiger. I would ask him, 'Why don't you ever call me Tiger?' He says, 'Well, you look more like a Sam."'

Woods also said he's been "changing diapers and doing feedings." He has always maintained he doesn't need much sleep, but fatherhood is apparently testing his limits.

"I definitely don't sleep now," Woods said, laughing.

He said he probably will cut back on his business ventures now that he has a new No. 1 priority in his life. Still, his expectation for his tournament this week is the same as for all others: win.

"It's just time management and understanding where your priorities are, and our priorities are Sam," he said. "That's the one priority. And from there, you work it out from there."

And, for the record, Woods -- who himself was putting against Bob Hope on a TV talk show at age 2 -- said he already has put a golf club in his young daughter's tiny hands.

"She couldn't quite hold it," Woods said with a smile. "But it was there."

Seven Lucky Wedding Gifts for a lucky day - 07-07-07

2007-07-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

Couples hope 7-7-07 nuptials will bring good luck, but why stop there?

Deborah Hopewell, Yahoo! Shopping Editor

On Saturday, tens of thousands of superstitious couples, including actress Eve Longoria and San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker, will be tying the knot in what may go down as the most popular wedding date in U.S. history: 7-7-07. Apparently these starry-eyed couples figure that even if they are lucky in love, why pass up the chance for some extra insurance?

After all, the number seven carries a lot of significance: In Vegas, 7-7-7 is the highest slot-machine jackpot, and triple 7's add up to Black Jack. There's seven days in a week, seven musical notes on the scale, the Seven Wonders of the World, and the Seven Deadly Sins.

Theknot.com, a wedding planning site, says that on any given Saturday in July (the most popular moth for weddings), there are typically 12,000 weddings taking place. But on 7-7-07, that number has more than tripled - to 38,000. That could possibly make this the most popular wedding day ever.

It's been a windfall for wedding planners; others are bracing themselves. In California's Orange County, for instance, the clerk's office will open for seven hours on Saturday to perform wedding ceremonies every seven minutes. Clark County, home to Las Vegas and its 40 or so wedding chapels, expects to host 3,000 weddings that day - about 10 times the average.

Whether you'll be attending a wedding on this particularly auspicious date, or just want to give the happy couple something that might bring a little extra luck, we've chosen seven gifts that just might the difference between a future in Seventh Heaven, or that other, not-so-lucky seven: the Seven-Year Itch.

Lucky Tippler: For festive occasions, consider giving a set of European-designed shot glasses with a die on two sides, both of which add up to seven, of course. And for connoisseurs of the vine, don't forget the dice wine charms.

Make it Crystal Clear: Swarovski "Good Luck" magnets come in a set of four: a peridot crystal clover, a clear crystal horseshoe, a clear crystal heart and a red crystal ladybug.

Watch Love Grow: A thriving Dracaena ("lucky bamboo") symbolizes good fortune in many Asian countries. A "Lucky 7 Bamboo" arrangement from ftd.com comes with two spiraling stalks - could they be entwined lovers? - and five straight stalks in a red-glazed container, tied together with a lucky gold band.

Suitable for Framing: They say four-leaf clovers ensure wealth and good health. Red Envelope has taken a real four-leaf clover, set it in clear resin and placed that in a brushed, polished nickel standing frame.

Keep it Clean: The newlywed couple will be awash in good luck with a set of triple-milled soaps from Gianna Rose Atelier, available in four-leaf clovers or horseshoes.

Kitchen Aid: You can help the cook up memories of the special day for years to come when you give a cooking apron that proclaims "We Hit the Jackpot 777 On Our Wedding Day." Personalize it by adding the bride and groom's name.

Something's Burning: Light the way for luck with a set of 12 "Wishful Thinking" candles from Red Envelope. A dozen colored tins each hold a lightly scented ivory candle that contains a tiny treasure that reveals itself as it burns. The corresponding wishes include love, luck, wealth, health, wealth and success.

Dracula's Castle is up for sale

2007-07-03T11:43:00.000-07:00

By ALEXANDRU ALEXE, Associated Press Writer

A Habsburg heir is hoping someone will take a bite of his offer Monday to sell "Dracula's Castle" in Transylvania.

The medieval Bran Castle, perched on a cliff near Brasov in mountainous central Romania, is a top tourist attraction because of its ties to Prince Vlad the Impaler, the warlord whose cruelty inspired Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, "Dracula."

Legend has it that the ruthless Vlad — who earned his nickname because of the way he tortured his enemies — spent one night in the 1400s at the castle.

The Habsburgs formally put the Bran Castle on the market Monday, a U.S.-based investment company said. No selling price was announced.

Bran Castle was built in the 14th century to serve as a fortress to protect against the invading Ottoman Turks. The royal family moved into the castle in the 1920s, living there until the communist regime confiscated it from Princess Ileana in 1948.

After being restored in the late 1980s and following the end of communist rule in Romania, it gained popularity as a tourist attraction known as "Dracula's Castle."

In May 2006, the castle was returned to Princess Ileana's son, New York architect Archduke Dominic Habsburg. He pledged to keep it open as a museum until 2009.

Habsburg, 69, offered to sell the castle last year to local authorities for $80 million, but the offer was rejected.

On Monday, he put the castle up for sale "to the right purchaser under the right circumstances," said Michael Gardner, chief executive of Baytree Capital, the company representing Habsburg. "The Habsburgs are not in the business of managing a museum."

He predicted the castle would sell for more than $135 million but added that Habsburg will only sell it to a buyer "who will treat the property and its history with appropriate respect."

Habsburg said in a statement: "Aside from the castle's connection to one of the most famous novels ever written, Bran Castle is steeped in critical events of European history dating from the 14th century to the present."

According to a contract signed when the castle was returned, the government pays rent to Habsburg to run the castle as a museum for three years, charging admission. After 2009, Habsburg will have full control of the castle, Gardner said.

The government has priority as a buyer if it can match the best offer for the castle, he said.

Opposition lawmakers have claimed the government's decision to return the castle to Habsburg was illegal because of procedural errors.

In recent years, the castle — complete with occasional glimpses of bats flying around its ramparts at twilight — has attracted filmmakers looking for a dramatic backdrop for films about Dracula and other horror movies.

Some 450,000 people visit the castle every year, Gardner said.

DNA Test Shows Eddie Murphy Fathered Mel B.'s Baby

2007-06-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

Yahoo News

The he said/she said appears to be over as a rep for Melanie Brown has confirmed to People magazine that Eddie Murphy is the father of the former Spice Girl's baby.

Results of the DNA test taken by Murphy on June 11 were reportedly received by Brown on Thursday.

"He's the baby's father, it's official. The baby is undoubtedly, 110 percent his," a source told People. "There was no doubt in people's minds anyways, least of all [Brown's]. It wasn't a surprise to her. She knew all along."

The 32-year-old singer gave birth to Angel Iris Murphy Brown on April 3. On the birth certificate, Brown listed the child's last name as Murphy.

Brown also has an 8-year-old daughter. Murphy has five children from his marriage to Nicole Mitchell Murphy and one from a previous relationship.

When asked about impending fatherhood in December, Murphy told a television reporter: "And I don't know whose child that is until it comes out and has a blood test. You shouldn't jump to conclusions, sir."

A rep for Murphy declined to comment on this latest report.

'Never wear 'mom jeans'' - William Sledd

2007-06-20T13:48:00.000-07:00

How a manager at a Gap store in Paducah, Ky. became the hottest style guru on the Internet -- as well as a strong voice for tolerance.

By KEVIN SITES

Does the world need another gay fashion guru telling us how to dress?

In the case of William Sledd, the answer is an unequivocal yes.

Sledd, 23, has parlayed a fey, southern-fried sense of humor and six years of hard-earned, chain store product knowledge as a manager at the local Gap in his hometown of Paducah, Ky., into the fourth most popular channel on YouTube.

The segments of "Ask a Gay Man" are like an Internet mashup of "What Not to Wear" and "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" — couture advice delivered with soft-handed snark, beginning with his signature opening line: "Hey, bitches."

It doesn't matter if you abide by his style tips or not. Sledd is worth watching just for the laughs, like in his breakout "Denim Edition" in which he and his sometimes sidekick and next door neighbor Stephanie warn viewers that "Mom jeans" are the devil and that carpenter jeans are never OK — unless you're a carpenter.

Some of Sledd's best comic understatements come during his video critiques of his competitors for best series award on YouTube.

"Rednecks shooting at snowmen," Sledd deadpans after showing a clip from "Snowmen Hunters," a survivalist parody. "At least I feel at home."

He mocks another contender, "Ask a Ninja," for wearing too much black, then appears dressed as a Ninja himself — covered in pink.

With almost 60,000 subscribers and millions of views, Sledd says the site has caught on because viewers see him as just a normal, small-town person they can relate to.

Well, normal for a guy who's not afraid to says things like, "I'm a little pro man-bag," and who has a walk-in closet with two shelves full of pajama pants.

Sledd's unapologetic embrace of his sexual orientation has helped win loyal supporters, but there are detractors too: anonymous posters making homophobic comments about his videos. To them, he directed a few choice words in a recent clip he made in honor of Gay and Lesbian Pride month, calling them "cowards hiding behind their computers."

"It's so easy to hate," he says in the video. "Oooh I'm gay, let's leave nasty comments. Send. You know what? Why? There's no need. It's my month, bitch!"

As bold as Sledd is about his sexual preference on the Internet, he has been more circumspect at home, where he still lives with his parents. "We kind of have a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy," he says of his family.

Sledd is a good example of the Internet's peculiar brand of stardom in which you can be known around the world and yet remain virtually anonymous in your own neighborhood.

He says he likes it that way. He refuses to do local media interviews in Paducah. "This is my place, this town where I live," he says. "This is my home. This is where I get away."

"Is this your protective shell?" I ask him.

"This is my shell," he says, flipping his hair over the left side of his face, as he often does on his webcasts. "I mean, I can turn my cell phone off. And turn my computer off, and pretend nothing happened."

But with a growing coterie of famous friends and development deals in the works with mainstream media outlets like NBC, pretending nothing happened is no longer really an option for Sledd.

In fact, he's already quit his job at the Gap and he knows he may have to consider leaving Paducah.

"What happens when you're not that guy in Paducah anymore? Will people still think you're cool?"

"I'm that fabulous guy in New York," he says.

"Just a different place, same guy?"

"Yeah."

Let's hope so.

'Cute Knut' raking in cash at Berlin Zoo

2007-06-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

By JACOB COMENETZ, Associated Press Writer

"Cute Knut," Germany's celebrity polar bear cub, is turning into a moneymaker for the Berlin Zoo, which expects to bring in $3.3 million more than last year due to a dramatic rise in visitors.

The 6-month-old bear draws several hundred visitors each day, who line up behind metal gates for his 11 a.m. public viewing. Unfazed by the attention Tuesday, Knut rolled in the dirt under a broiling sun and chewed on the arm of his keeper.

Officials say the cub, the first polar bear born at the Berlin Zoo in 33 years, helped the zoo record its millionth visitor of the year in mid-May, a mark not typically reached until late July. Revenue is expected to rise to nearly $20 million this year from $16.6 million in 2006.

"Part of it is the weather effect, due to the particularly warm spring, and a large part is the Knut effect," Zoo director Gerald Uhlich said.

Knut was born Dec. 5 with a twin that later died. His mother rejected him and zoo workers had to raise the cub. Knut beguiled the public with his button-eyed face and gained international fame, even appearing in an Annie Leibovitz photo for Vanity Fair's Green Issue cover.

Aside from increased ticket income, the zoo is making money from an array of Knut products, such as a Knut DVD and stuffed toy versions of the polar cub.

There are also licensing deals with external vendors. The Berlin porcelain manufacturer KPM has released a porcelain Knut which costs $200, and candy maker Haribo has a bear-shaped Knut candy.

Clarkson searches for love

2007-06-13T12:48:00.001-07:00

Associated Press

Kelly Clarkson, who rails against a former flame in her new song "Never Again," says she's never been in love.

"I love my friends and family," the Grammy-winning singer and original "American Idol" tells Elle magazine in its July issue. "But I have never said the words `I love you' to anyone in a romantic relationship. Ever."

Clarkson, 25, doesn't take romance lightly.

"I am very old-school, conservative in my thinking when it comes to relationships," she says. "Love is something you work at. It doesn't come easily. There are going to be bad days. You are going to have to work at loving someone when they are being an idiot."

She adds: "People think they're just going to meet the perfect guy. Don't be ridiculous."

Marriage and motherhood aren't in the cards for Clarkson--not right now, anyway.

"My point of view is that I shouldn't be a mother at all, because I'd be horrible," she says. "I'm not willing to be that selfless."

Her comments speak to the singer's frankness, which makes Clarkson stand out from many of today's publicist-protected pop stars. In recent weeks, Clarkson has made headlines for saying the media is exaggerating reports that she and music mogul Clive Davis clashed over her upcoming CD, My December, to be released by RCA Records, a unit of Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

It's a sensitive subject.

"I've sold more than 15 million records worldwide, and still nobody listens to what I have to say. Because I'm 25 and a woman," she says.

"I am a good singer, so I can't possibly be a good writer," she continues. "Women can't possibly be good at two things. I haven't lost my temper about it. It only drives me more. If your thing is to bring me down, cool. I'll just work harder."

Two women sue `Girls Gone Wild' creator

2007-06-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

Associated Press

Two Florida women have sued "Girls Gone Wild" creator Joe Francis and his film company, alleging a sexually explicit video was released without their consent.

In the federal lawsuit filed Monday in Panama City, Brooke Pastolic and Christina Brose said they were enticed to board a "Girls Gone Wild" tour bus with the promise of free clothing. Once onboard, they allegedly were given alcoholic drinks even though both were younger than 21.

According to the lawsuit, the cameramen then coerced the women into exposing themselves and engaging in sexual activities, but repeatedly stated they would not use footage in a video. However, the footage appeared on two separate "Girls Gone Wild" DVDs.

The women claim the footage was used without their consent, and if they did give consent, it was obtained illegally by "Girls Gone Wild" representatives giving them alcohol.

When and where the footage was taped isn't stated in the lawsuit. The women's attorney, Christopher Hill, didn't immediately return a message Wednesday.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

"Girls Gone Wild" crews don't serve alcohol on their tour buses and ask women for identification to verify their age, Michael Burke, attorney for Francis' Mantra Films Inc., told The News Herald.

Francis, 34, remains in a Nevada jail on federal tax evasion charges. He was granted bail after pleading not guilty in that case, but stayed in jail to avoid the possibility of being sent to Florida to be arrested on charges of possessing contraband and drugs while in the Bay County Jail in May.

He is also charged in Florida with using minors in sexual performances, conspiring to use minors in sexual performances and prostitution.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Wins 2007 Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction

2007-06-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

By Aaron Reed

Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has won the twelfth Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction with her second novel Half of a Yellow Sun (Fourth Estate).

At an awards ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London hosted by Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction Co-Founder and Honorary Director, Kate Mosse, the 2007 Chair of Judges, Muriel Gray, presented the author with the GBP30,000 prize and the 'Bessie', a limited edition bronze figurine. Both are anonymously endowed.

Muriel Gray, Chair of Judges, said: "The judges and I were hugely impressed by the power, ambition and skill of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel. It's astonishing, not just in the skillful subject matter, but in the brilliance of its accessibility. This is a moving and important book by an incredibly exciting author."

Pippa Dunn, Brand Marketing Director for Orange UK, commented: "The Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction goes from strength to strength and we are delighted to be able to support such a powerful platform for the promotion of outstanding international fiction written by women. This year has seen another exceptional shortlist, but in the end, there can be only one winner - many congratulations to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie."

The Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction was set up in 1996 to celebrate and promote fiction written by women throughout the world to the widest range of readers possible. The Orange Prize is awarded to the best novel of the year written in English by a woman.

The judges for the 2007 Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction are:

Muriel Gray (Chair), Writer & Broadcaster Kathryn Hughes, Historian & Critic Maya Jaggi, Critic & Journalist Marian Keyes, Author Kate Saunders, Writer & Journalist

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Nigeria in 1977. She is from Abba, in Anambra State, but grew up in the university town of Nsukka. Her first novel Purple Hibiscus was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2004 and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for debut fiction. Half of a Yellow Sun was selected for The Richard and Judy Book Club 2007.

Half of a Yellow Sun

Half of a Yellow Sun is set in Nigeria during the 1960s, at the time of the vicious Nigeria- Biafra war in which more than a million people died and thousands were massacred in cold blood.

Three characters are swept up in the rapidly unfolding political events. Ugwu, a boy from a poor village, is employed as a houseboy for a university lecturer. Olanna, a young, middle-class woman, has come to live with the professor, abandoning her privileged life in Lagos for a dusty university town and the charismatic idealism of her new lover. Richard is a tall, shy Englishman, in thrall to Olanna's twin sister Kainene, who refuses to belong to anyone.

They are propelled into events that will pull them apart and bring them together in the most unexpected ways. As Nigerian troops advance and they run for their lives, their ideals - and their loyalties to each other - are severely tested. This novel is about Africa, about moral responsibility, the end of colonialism, ethnic allegiances, class and race and about how love can complicate all these things.

Previous winners of the Orange Prize are Zadie Smith for On Beauty (2006), Lionel Shriver for We Need to Talk About Kevin (2005), Andrea Levy for Small Island (2004), Valerie Martin for Property (2003), Ann Patchett for Bel Canto (2002), Kate Grenville for The Idea of Perfection (2001), Linda Grant for When I Lived in Modern Times (2000), Suzanne Berne for A Crime in the Neighbourhood (1999), Carol Shields for Larry's Party (1998), Anne Michaels for Fugitive Pieces (1997), and Helen Dunmore for A Spell of Winter (1996).

Karen Connelly Wins 2007 Orange Broadband Award for New Writers

The Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction awards ceremony also saw the announcement of the 2007 Orange Broadband Award for New Writers. Established in 2005 as part of the Orange Prize 10th year celebrations, the emphasis of the Orange Broadband Award for New Writers is on emerging talent and the evidence of future potential. Chair of Judges, Jackie Kay, presented a GBP10,000 bursary, provided by Arts Council England, to Karen Connelly for her novel The Lizard Cage (Harvill Secker).

The 2007 award ceremony took place in The Ballroom of the newly refurbished Royal Festival Hall prior to the venue officially re-opening. Guests toasted the winner announcement at a champagne drinks reception courtesy of Taittinger.

Nigerian author-Achebe, wins International Booker Prize for fiction

2007-06-13T10:19:00.000-07:00

By THOMAS WAGNER, Associated Press Writer

Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe won the 2007 Man Booker International Prize for fiction Wednesday, beating such celebrated nominees as Philip Roth, Margaret Atwood and Ian McEwan.

The $120,000 prize is awarded every two years for a body of fiction.

Achebe, 76, is best known for his first novel, "Things Fall Apart' (1958), and "Anthills of the Savannah," published more than 30 years later. He has written more than 20 books, including novels, short stories, essays and collections of poetry.

"Chinua Achebe's early work made him the father of modern African literature as an integral part of world literature," said Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer, one of the three judges for the award.

"In `Things Fall Apart' and his other fiction set in Nigeria, Chinua Achebe inaugurated the modern African novel," said another judge, academic Elaine Showalter. "He also illuminated the path for writers around the world seeking new words and forms for new realities and societies. We honor his literary example and achievements."

The third judge was novelist Colm Toibin.

Achebe's work centers on African politics, the way Africa and Africans are depicted in the West and the effects of colonization on African societies.

In all, 15 writers from Canada, Britain, the United States, Australia, Ireland, France, Israel, Mexico, Nigeria and the Netherlands were shortlisted for the 2007 Man Booker International Prize for fiction award.

Besides Achebe, the contenders included three Canadians — Atwood, Michael Ondaatje and short story writer Alice Munro — and two Americans, Roth and Don DeLillo.

Also nominated were three Britons — McEwan, Salman Rushdie and Doris Lessing — Ireland's John Banville, Australia's Peter Carey, Mexico's Carlos Fuentes, Israel's Amos Oz, France's Michel Tournier and Dutch writer Harry Mulisch.

Launched in 2004 as a spin-off from Britain's prestigious Booker Prize, the international trophy is awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction in English or whose work has been translated into English.

Albanian writer Ismail Kadare won the inaugural prize in 2005.

The original Booker is open only to writers from Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth of former British colonies. While the original Booker is given for a novel, the international prize recognizes a body of work. Its official name is the Man Booker International Prize, after its sponsor, financial services conglomerate Man Group PLC.

Achebe will receive the prize on June 28 at a ceremony in Oxford.

The author began work with the Nigerian Broadcasting Co. in Lagos in 1954 and studied broadcasting at the British Broadcasting Corp. in London.

During Nigeria's 1967-1970 civil war, Achebe's Ibo people of the eastern region tried to establish an independent Republic of Biafra, and Achebe tried to publicize the plight of his people.

Achebe is currently professor of languages and literature at Bard College, New York, and has lectured in universities around the world.

In 2004, he refused to accept Nigeria's second highest honor, the Commander of the Federal Republic, to protest the state of affairs in his native country. Nigeria held a presidential election in April that marked the first time one elected leader handed over power to another in a country plagued by military rule and dictators since gaining independence from Britain in 1960.

Achebe, who was paralyzed from the waist down after a 1990 car accident, is married with four children.

"Things Fall Apart" has sold more than 10 million copies around the world and has been translated into 50 languages, making Achebe the most translated African writer of all time.

Many African writers, including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who won the Orange Prize for Fiction last week for "Half of a Yellow Sun," have been inspired by his work.

Are female rappers staging a comeback for genre?

2007-06-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

By Mariel Concepcion

Before 2007 is out, Eve, Missy Elliott, Foxy Brown, Trina, Shawnna and Remy Ma should have new albums in stores, setting the stage for a banner year in the world of female rap. For the long-suffering genre, that would mean that more than two or three titles could finish in the top 100 of Billboard's year-end Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Female rap shows few, if any, signs of growth. In 2006, only Remy Ma's "There's Something About Remy: Based on a True Story" cracked the year-end top 100, just making the cut at No. 92. Since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991, only 13 female rappers have appeared on the year-end chart out of a pool of 585 artists.

The genre's biggest stars all seem to be winding down in terms of sales. Lil' Kim cracked the million-selling mark with three straight albums, beginning with her 1996 debut, "Hard Core," which has sold 1.42 million copies. But her latest, 2005's "The Naked Truth," has shifted a mere 388,000, a 73 percent decline. Brown, Elliott and Eve also have seen their album sales slashed by more than half in recent years. To be fair, these numbers are in line with the overall slippage in hip-hop market share, which amounted to 107 million albums in 2000 but just 59.5 million in 2006.

RULES OF THE GAME

It has grown so bad for female rappers that the Recording Academy did away with the best female rap artist category of the Grammy Awards in 2004, two years after its inception, due to a shortage of eligible entries. The category was combined with best male rap artist to create the best rap solo performance field.

"We try to have at least 25 entries minimum because that gives a good variety and cross-section of music," said urban music/awards project manager Alan Foster, who revealed that the category won't be present in this year's Grammys either. "The problem we had with the female rap category was we only had like 13 entries."

It wasn't always like this. In fact, Brown was once a bigger star than Jay-Z. But the truth is, females have been playing by male rapper's rules almost from day one.

"I believe that is mostly attributed to what being an MC is all about: being arrogant, braggadocious and aggressive," WQHT (Hot 97) New York program director Ebro Darden said.

"It's a male domain, and the theme, the images, the styles, the outlooks and perspectives have been driven by men," said author and University of Pennsylvania humanities professor Michael Eric Dyson, who has written extensively about hip-hop.

"The success of women (rappers) has suffered as a result of the prerogative of men to set the standards for what's acceptable and not acceptable in hip-hop and, quite frankly, to set the rules of the game as to what lyrics, what styles and what genres will be most popular," Dyson said. "So, it has been difficult for women to fit in."

DISCOURAGED AND INTIMIDATED

The danger for female rap now is that the lack of success turns off tomorrow's would-be stars. Jazmin Polanco, who organizes the yearly "Unanimous Decision" MC battle in New York and also serves as general manager of Def Jam imprint Roc La Familia, said she's been impressed by underground female MCs like La Bruja and Patty Duke. But she said women are "usually outnumbered when they come out to my showcase, and they become intimidated by men."

"Girls used to approach me like, 'I rap,"' said Eve, whose first album in five years arrives August 7. "But now it's usually guys that give me demos. No girls have come up to me in a while."

An artist like Trina illustrates the uphill struggle for female rappers. Her 2000 debut, "The Baddest Bitch," sold 684,000 units, while 2005's "Glamorest Life" has shifted 398,000. But the latter album spawned Trina's biggest hit to date, "Here We Go" featuring Kelly Rowland, which reached No. 3 on Hot Rap Songs and No. 8 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

That success wasn't enough to keep Trina at her longtime label home of Atlantic, however. "Because of where Trina is with her career and where we are with our label, we felt we could put out her record on our own," said Slip-N-Slide project manager Aaron Lucas, who inked a new deal with EMI to distribute Trina's "Baddest Bitch II," due August 14.

"The consumer, the public, they believe in the females in the game," said Trina, who claims the new album will make people listen again. "I'm stepping my game up like 10 notches, and somebody is going to tell somebody about it, and they might just want to pick it up this time."

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES

Billboard spoke to artists, managers, executives, retailers and radio programmers to get a sense of why female MCs still lag behind the commercial achievements of their male counterparts.

Some claimed the extinction of the female MC began when Lil' Kim and Brown made it trendy to be high-maintenance. "They were overtly sexy, their rhymes were raunchy, they only wore designer outfits, and their attention to hair and makeup rivaled Diana Ross in her prime," former Vibe editor-in-chief Mimi Valdes wrote in a March 2 blog post. The problem was that dressing like a diva required a budget traditionally unavailable to a rapper. "That's why labels only release a new female MC every few years," Valdes observed. "They're just too damn expensive!"

"When labels are losing money by the boatload and records aren't selling, it takes a lot of money to break a rap artist," WQHT's Darden said. "You can double that for a female artist with clothes, makeup and hair stylists because there's no way a female can wear the same pair of shoes every time the people see her."

Labels may perceive a female rapper as a bigger risk or at least less of a sure thing. "No one wants to invest in something that sells 100,000," Brown said. "They want to go with the sure shot."

IMAGE VS. SUBSTANCE

Maybe female rappers have just run out of ideas. After the rise of Brown and Lil' Kim, "every crew was like, 'We're gonna go get a girl and she's gonna rap and she's gonna wear a bikini and open her legs and that's gonna be fly cause that's what Kim did,"' Brown said. "Or, 'I'm gonna get a dark-skinned chick and she's gonna be sassy and controversial and she's gonna be Foxy.' They were clearly carbon copies and people know that. I believe right now people want their stars to be stars again, not just fabricated."

Dyson singled out Lauryn Hill as one of the few female rappers who have been able to court fans of both genders. "When she was with the Fugees, she spit serious game and talked about the issues men think about: police brutality, struggling against a white supremacist society, dealing with ignorant Negroes who didn't want to learn and forcing them into different pastures," he said. "She was able to hang with the fellas at that level. Then when she did her solo album, she was able to send wisdom to young women who were being seduced by and hoodwinked by these men."

Chicago rapper Shawnna, who guested on Ludacris' 2003 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit "Stand Up" and was a member of his Disturbing Tha Peace clique up until last year, suggested that female MCs try tackling more in-depth subjects. "Fans are tired of hearing rappers talk about being the top chick or the richest rich or the one with the most diamonds," she said.

Warner Bros. VP of urban A&R Naim Ali feels women need to stand alone rather than align themselves with male rappers. "In the past, many of the new female rappers came in on the momentum of being in a clique, either with a group of guys or on the heels of a producer, and their careers were subject to how popular the clique/crew, male artist or producer was," he said. "Female rappers need to be competitive with the guys and be looked at by consumers as having their own identity. If they don't, then whenever the association with the clique, artist or producer expires, their career expires as well."

Miami rapper Jacki-O believes that relying on men for credibility and support hasn't gotten female rappers far enough. "The majority of the female artists that came out were backed by males. So, why didn't they sell?" she said. "You don't need a man to back a woman up. We are natural-born leaders. If we ride with each other, we get our strength from each other. We just need to work together and stop trying to always be No. 1."

The numbers tell a different story. Ten of the 13 charting female rappers, and all five of the biggest sellers, were closely aligned with a male crew or leading male rapper.

But Jacki-O, who has teamed up with Shawnna and Remy in hopes of releasing an album together this year, says it's time "to try something different. If we get together, my fans can listen to what you do, and your fans can listen to what I do. You put that together, and we've got a big impact."

Prison vets Paris cellmates

2007-06-05T12:29:00.000-07:00

Yahoo News

Prison bosses at the jail where socialite Paris Hilton will do her 23-day stretch have vetted cellmates to find someone not looking to cash-in on their celebrity connection.

Paris has to report to the Los Angeles' Century Regional Detention Center by June 5 to start serving her sentence for violating her probation following a 2006 drunk-driving arrest.

The prison is reported to have chosen a female cellmate who they believe will not want to profit by recounting tales about her time behind bars with the hotel heiress.

Sources claim prison chiefs have already started searches of anything electronic and have sent a memo to staff warning them they face being fired if pictures of Hilton appear in the press.

She will be placed in "special needs housing," a section of the jail reserved for high-profile prisoners.