Celebritweets

Question: how are MC Hammer and Martha Stewart connected?  Answer: Twitter.  (MC Hammer follows Arnold Schwarzenegger's twitter feed; Arnold Schwarzenegger follows God, who follows William Shatner, who is followed by Xzibit, who follows Snoop Dogg, who is followed by Martha.)

These and other fascinating questions are answered in this article in the New York Times about celebrity twittering.  Apparently, celebrities really are just like us: they like to hear about what celebrities are doing.

Master's in Social Media

I know what you're all thinking... I can teach this course. Someone at Birmingham City University in the United Kingdom already has the job. Students will learn how to use Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter as marketing tools. The cost: about $6,200.

Considering the future of the free world depends on monetizing the web, this must be a worthwhile degree. For all of you amateurs out there with blogs, the pros will be on the scene soon.

Sham-Ouch!

As fans of The Smoking Gun might know, Vince Shlomi, also known as Vince Offer, also known as the "Sham Wow Guy," was arrested February 7 in Miami for punching a prostitute who, he claims, had clamped her teeth onto his tongue and would not let go.  

From this presumably awkward position, he somehow punched her several times and she relinquished her grip.  He ran to the lobby of the hotel where he was staying and called the police from there.

It brings a whole new meaning to Slap Chop!

photo: infomercial-hell.com

Nudity as Art

Joanna Krupa, Playboy's 'sexiest swimsuit model' says Pope John Paul inspired her to go topless. Krupa says disrobing does not bother her because "Pope John Paul said, since we were born naked, it is art, and it's just showing a beautiful body that God created."

Krupa also touched on the difference between European and American sensibilities when it comes to nudity.

Are we too uptight about nudity? Should we embrace what is natural?

Big Families Are In!

Angelina Jolie, Jon & Kate, and Nadya Suleman are not the only people with large families!  Madonna is going to adopt another baby from Malawi.  She has two biological children: Lourdes (born 1996) and Rocco (born 2000), in addition to David Banda (born 2005), the Malawian baby she adopted in 2006.

Pictured: A family who unicycles. www.unicycle.uk

iRipoff

You don't mind paying .99 cents for an iTunes song. It seemed like a reasonable price. There is a new number to get used to. Try $1.29. That's a 30% increase!

I am sure Apple spent a lot of money on market research to come up with the new number. Apple hasn't announced the April 7 date for the price hike, but it has been telling record labels about the change.

Let the outrage begin. One blog suggested you can find better deals on amazon.com. Like this 5 MP3 Albums for $5 each.

Is This Treatment Safe?

Even though homosexuality was removed from the DSM entirely in 1986, according to this article at PsychCentral, "A significant minority of psychiatrists and therapists are still attempting to help lesbian, gay and bisexual clients become heterosexual despite lack of evidence that such treatment is beneficial or even safe."

Image: nytstore.com

Obama Mania of a different sort

Perhaps trying to capitalize on President Barack Obama's popularity, a German frozen food company has come out with a product called 'Obama Fingers.'

The package describes the fried chicken fingers as "tender, juicy pieces of chicken breast, coated and fried." A company sales manager says "American products and the American way of eating are trendy at the moment."

Needless to say, the chicken now in German freezers, is causing quite a bit of furor. NY Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn) says "it's racist and inappropriate."

So, how long before see the President as a person rather than a race?

Sweet Sweet Miracle of a fruit

You won't believe this, but there is a fruit that will make lemons taste like candy. It's called miracle fruit.
This berry is grown in West Africa. Miracle fruit has a natural protein with sugar molecules that binds to your taste buds. The fruit has been growing in South Florida for decades but recently gained attention from media outlets.

Some doctors are looking at the possibility of giving miracle fruit to cancer patients whose chemo treatments dulled their taste buds. Research is ongoing. It's possible miracle fruit might help people with diabetes.

People, mostly foodies, are throwing flavor tripping parties where you eat a berry followed by very tart foods which in turn are now sweet. You can buy some miracle berries and have you own party.

It all sounds like so much fun. We need some fun right now, but 'miracle fruit.' What a name? Is that too big a burden for one small berry to carry on its invisible shoulders?

Casting call for "The Three Stooges" movie

The Farrelly Brothers (Peter and Bobby) known for movies like "Dumb & Dumber" and "There's Something About Mary" have spent 10 years trying to get "The Three Stooges" made.

Now the brothers are closer than ever. The movie will focus on the antics of the three characters Moe, Larry and Curly.

Sean Penn has signed up to play Larry. Jim Carey may play Curly and Benicio Del Toro as Moe.

Who would you cast as Larry, Moe & Curly?





** picture courtesy of Eonline.com

People Food For Pets

Myth or truth: Chocolate is bad for dogs.

It's the truth. (Chocolate contains methylxanthines, which, in dogs, can lead to vomiting, diarrhea, excessive thirst, and more.)

Some other foods that are bad for your dog or cat: raisins, onions, and grapes.

A complete list of "people food" which is off-limits to animals can be found here.

picture courtesy of fda.gov

Gaming without expensive consoles or disks

It's video games on demand. The owners of OnLive Game Service say its system will give you all your favorite games and you don't need expensive consoles or disks. Plus you don't have to choose between XBOX or Wii.



You can communicate with other players in real time. OnLive allows you to use a computer or TV with a small box (size of a deck of cards) for a monthly subscription fee. No word on what that fee might be. Watch out for OnLive online by Fall 2009.

Tabloid Headline Too Juicy to Leave Alone!

A woman in Fairfield, Connecticut changed the locks on the bedroom door and handcuffed herself to her husband in a reconcilliation attempt gone awry. The man was rescued by the police and treated at the local hospital for bite marks on his arms and torso.

From this slightly unreal, yet real, news story, we, the editors of Very Small Talk, present our ten favorite tabloid headlines of the past decade, selected from a list maintained by City Newsstand (Chicago). By coincidence, all come from Weekly World News.

APRIL 2006
NUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CHAPEL

SEPTEMBER 2005
ORIGIN OF APATHY DISCOVERED, BUT NOBODY CARES!

FEBRUARY 2005
BIN LADEN WANTS TO JOIN ZZ TOP!

MARCH 2005
NEBRASKA DOESN'T EXIST, SAYS AUTHOR

SEPTEMBER 2004
Art collector buys forged paintings with counterfeit money

FEBRUARY 2000
CITY FORCED TO CLOSE MAGIC TOILET

APRIL 2003
CALIFORNIANS BANNED FROM HEAVEN!

JANUARY 2003
HOTCAKES NO LONGER SELLING WELL

JANUARY 2000
Lightning bolt zaps turkey--AND COOKS IT TO A GOLDEN BROWN!

JUNE 2004
ENGLISH ARE WORLD'S MOST UNATTRACTIVE PEOPLE, SAYS FRENCH STUDY

NASA victim of Colbert prank

If you're a fan at all of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," you know Stephen Colbert likes to have things named in his honor. Colbert has had everything from a hockey team's mascot to a bald eagle named for him.

Recently NASA held an online contest to name a new room at the international space station. NASA allowed 'write-ins' which prompted Colbert to mobilize the members of Colbert Nation. Stephen Colbert won the contest by 40,000 votes. NASA still has the right to pick an "appropriate" name and it says it will do so in April.



Either way, congratulations Stephen!

Foxy Lady beckons men

The strip club, Foxy Lady in Rhode Island wants a few good women to join its staff. The club held a job fair to hire about 35 women. More than150 people showed up looking for work, most of them men. The women in line were looking for work that did not involve taking their clothes off.

Teeny hotel rooms

$1.71 per square foot, per night.

$1.76 per square foot, per night.

Those are the rates you would pay at two different New York hotels. The only difference is, at the $1.76 rate, you can buy only about 56 square feet of space. At $1.71, the minimum room size is about 500 square feet of space.

"Micro hotel rooms" are not new -- but they are attracting more attention as a business model in recessionary times.

Dream a little dream of me

Have you ever had a dream so vivid that you woke up thinking it's really happening? What does it mean? What about those of us who don't dream? What does that say about our mind? Many minds greater than mine have pondered these questions and more.

The most recent research says that when we interpret our dreams, we basically give them meaning that suits our needs.

The doctors conducting this research don't think our dreams have any hidden meaning, but they do think the dreams say something about our emotional state.

*Picture by Viktor Koen for the New York Times

Love with all the trimmings

A new study published strives to determine if it's true that love in a long-term relationship necessarily mellows out and and the couple becomes "companionlike".

They found, perhaps not surprisingly, that couples in long-term relationships who also had romantic love were the the most satisfied with their relationships.

Couples in long-term relationships that had companion-like love were only moderately satisfied with the relationship.

Couples in short-term relationships with passionate love were also satisfied with the relationship.

The researchers suggested that “Couples should strive for love with all the trimmings.”

Hear, hear!

(picture: roast turkey with all the trimmings, courtesy Wiltshire Farm foods)

How Today Looks Ground Zero?

In the hubub of daily news -- AIG bonus payouts, March Madness, the 17th season of American Idol -- okay, so not the 17th season, but still -- it sometimes is refreshing to take a look at slow-moving project. Like the Pitch Drop Experiment. Or maybe the building progress at Ground Zero.

This fellow blogger's apartment overlooks Ground Zero, and he takes a picture of the construction every day. The photographs are strung together to create time-elapse movies. While there are other cams overlooking Ground Zero, How Today Looks Ground Zero is the best. And not only for its Yodaspeak title.

Senator Grassley's remarks about following "the Japanese example"

Senator Charles Grassley (R - Iowa), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, remarking about AIG executives in a radio interview on Monday, March 16th:

"The first thing that would make me feel a little bit better toward them (is) if they'd follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say, I'm sorry, and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide," Grassley said. "And in the case of the Japanese," he added, "they usually commit suicide before they make any apology." (Reuters)

So what is he talking about? Here's an incomplete survey of Japanese CEOs or Excecutives resigning or commiting suicide due to scandals:

Kuniji Miyazaki, former chairman of Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, committed suicide 6/30/1997 after being investigated for having links to organized crime.

Sogo Department Store Yasuharu Abe committed suicide 4/27/2000 after the company racked up enormous debt worth JPY 580 billion ($5.8 billion).

H.S. Securities vice-president Hideaki Noguchi committed suicide 1/19/2006 when his firm was raided in connection to the Livedoor scandal.

Nippon Long-Term Credit Bank president Tadayo Honma committed suicide 9/21/2000 after the government agreed to a capital injection worth JPY 260 billion ($2.6 billion) in capital.

Teikyo University CEO Shoichi Okinaga, resigned 9/18/2002 for pay-for-admissions scandal amounting to JPY 860 million (approx $8.6 million).

Television network NTV chairman Noritada Hosokawa, resigned 3/16/2009 for a false news report.

Sumitomo Bank chairman Ichiro Isoda, resigned 10/8/1990 when a branch manager made $167 million in illegal loans.

Rintaro Fujii, chairman of the Fujiya chain of restaurants, resigned 1/15/2008 after it was discovered they used out-of-date ingredients in their cakes.

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck chairman Takashi Usami resigned 4/17/2004 over a design defect.

Utility company Chubu Electric Co. chairman Hiroji Ota resigned 7/27/2004 for dubious purchases of antiques totalling JPY 600 million ($6 million).

Japan Airlines chairman Isao Kaneko resigned 5/31/2005 after a series of incidents caused safety concerns.

Nippon Meat Packers chairman Yoshinori Ohkoso resigned 8/21/2002 over a beef mislabling scandal.

NEC chairman Tadahiro Sekimoto resigned 10/26/1998 when NEC subsidiaries overbilled the Japan Defense Agency.

Hey Ladies, guys don't like drunks

Some new research suggests that women 18-25 think men find excessive drinking sexually attractive. Researches interviewed men about their preferences and it seems the belief that men like drunk girls is so wrong.

Now, the researchers need to go back and find out if women drink so that the men become more attractive. In other words, we drink in hopes that some guys will look better to us.

*Picture from Baltimore Sun

Washington, D.C. HIV/AIDS Infection Rate Worst in Nation

Nationally, the HIV/AIDS infection rate in the United States is 12.5 cases per 100,000 people, or 0.0125% of the population.

But a new study says the rate of infection of HIV in Washington, D.C. has reached 3% of D.C.'s population, making it the highest in the nation and equivalent to the infection rate in countries where it's considered a crisis, such as Uganda or parts of Kenya.

Washington, D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, who will release a report on the HIV/AIDS situation in the city, remarked "You have this problem affecting us, and you tell people how serious it is and it literally goes in one ear and out the other."

The Perfect (free) Getaway

Don't believe it's perfect? This video will take you there in a heartbeat. I am probably slightly biased when it comes to Vermont Inns (having graduated from Middlebury College), I think you'll agree with me that Rabbit Hill Inn looks very peaceful.

You can get a free stay at Rabbit Hill Inn if you're unemployed for more than 6 months. You have to send them a letter by June 1 for a chance to win. The owner says he knows what it's like to be unemployed.
You'd get a 2 night stay, breakfast and dinner. Sounds good, doesn't it?

Fish Tale with Proof

Here is blog contributor Patrick Baldwin:

By now, it's likely you've seen the video of the guy fighting a shark. (If not, click here)

The short version is these guys were out spear fishing when a shark got hungry. Now the guy who killed the shark is being forced to defend his actions. Really? I know the PETA peeps get upset when any animal dies but it's a freaking SHARK. Did you not see Jaws? Or does a 2 hour wrestling match with the most genetically engineered killing machine on the planet really sound like something anybody would do for kicks?

Truth in Advertisment

How much stock do you put in advertisement? For instance, 1 in 5 people prefer my travel site to yours. Or all the taste tests out there? The Wall Street Journal calls the stats 'bogus.'

As the economy weakens, the number of consumer dollars available to companies also diminishes... that means it's time to ramp up the claims.


Is there anyone regulating these claims. The government can step in, but the WSJ says it only does when the claims endanger the public. The broadcast networks ask for substantiating proof. And of course, companies can sue each other.

Teenagers wondering what Rhianna did to deserve that

In the highly publicized, violent episode that recently transpired between singers Chris Brown and Rhianna, who is to blame?

In a survey done in the Boston area, a frightening 51% of teens suggested that Rhianna is to blame.

Excerpt from the article in the Boston Herald:

“(Chris Brown) is or had been promoted as the kid next door, he was familiar and likeable,” said [Deborah] Collins-Gousby, who works for Casa Myrna-Vazquez, a Boston-based anti-violence organization that operates a 24-hour teen violence hotline and a citywide outreach program. “Among teens, I think their first reaction was, well, what did she do to deserve a beating that significant?”

(AP Photo)

Pleasure Interruptus

Television commercials have put food on my table for a long time, yet I am not a fan of commercials. I am not alone. Most people would prefer to watch TV without commercials. Some new research shows that ADs interrupting our tv shows heighten our enjoyment of the show and it did not matter if the commercials are good or bad. Even when people TIVO their favorite shows, they stop the show to take a phone call or make a trip to the bathroom. The researchers say we're not fully aware of what makes us happy.

Do you know what makes you happy?

*Drawing from NYT article.

Billionaires Poorer This Year, Says Forbes

He lost $18 billion, but Bill Gates is still the richest man in the world, with a net worth of $40 billion, according to Forbes.com, which published its Billionaires List yesterday.

In fact it's a tough world for all the billionaires. This year's list has 30% fewer people, with an average net worth that fell 23% compared to last year. Of the 793 billionaires, only 44 managed to add to their fortunes in the last year.

To put this into perspective, if the top 25 richest people in the world lumped their net worth together, it would be only a little more than half of the ARRA stimulus package that President Obama recently signed. It would take the next 27 billionaires on the list to reach the $787 billion that ARRA is worth.

It has not yet been reported if Bill Gates will try the food stamp challenge as an austerity measure.

(pictured: a young Bill Gates)

See yourself from space

The International Space Station is now beaming live pictures of earth from space to your computer. The video is from an external camera showing earth. You can see it for 12 hours every day, 7 days a week. NASA says it will also send out talk back between mission control and the astronauts. You can also find out when the International Space Station is going over your city. It's all here. Pretty cool.

*Picture courtesy of NASA

The Power of Attractive People

When it comes to attractive people, we are like moth to a flame. A new study from Florida State University says we are temporarily paralyzed by attractive people.

As you might expect, single people checked out the opposite sex. Those in committed relationships also looked at hot people, but they looked at beautiful people of the SAME sex. Presumably checking out the competition for their current mate.

The study says we may not even be aware that we're doing this. Apparently, both men and women are guilty of fixating on attractive people.

Keep that in mind the next time you see a hot person. How long did you stare? Did you care that they noticed?

*Picture from Jennifer Aniston's GQ cover

Home At Last

I for one am pleased that Nadya Suleman is moving into a new house. It's common knowledge that her current residence, which she shares with her parents and six children, is about to be foreclosed on because her mother was $23,225 behind in mortgage payments.

The new house is in La Habra, a city in the northwest corner of Orange County, California, and was listed for $564,000. It has four bedrooms in its 2,583 square feet. The master bedroom has a walk-in closet. No word yet on how exactly it was financed, much less how room sharing is going to be decided or if the walk-in closet will be used as a bedroom.

Also, she's going to get substantial help raising the children from the non-profit organization Angels in Waiting.

Meanwhile, Nadya Suleman's publicist quit last Friday, citing disagreements with the Sulemans. Victor Munoz, who said that the Suleman family "totally depended" on him, was the second publicist to quit; the first publicist quit after receiving death threats.

Glass Half Full

Women who are optimistic tend to live longer.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that women with a positive attitude tend to live longer than women with a doom and gloom attitude. The study tracked over 100,000 women over the age of 50. This study also took factors like income, health behaviors, and education into account so it's getting more attention. So, remember there are always at least 2 ways to look at every issue. Why not pick the brighter side?

$1.3 Billion in Tax Revenue Seen in Legalizing Marijuana

California, home to 12% of the US population, is burdened with a $42 billion budget deficit.


Tom Ammiano, who was elected to the State Assembly in December 2008, has proposed legalizing marijuana to generate as much as $1.3 billion per year in tax revenue for the state.


The proposal has the support of the state's tax collecting authority but is opposed by the police association.


It is also supported by the California Association of Hippies, the West Coast Surfer's Union, and the United Gangstas of California.*


*Not real organizations.

Photograph by Graham Jeffrey

1-800 No More

Here is guest contributor Patrick Baldwin

The era of spelling cute words with phone numbers is quickly vanishing. This new generation of smartphones makes the whole idea pointless. While some companies spell out the actual numbers next to the words, those that do not essentially ensure that anyone with a smartphone has no way of calling them.

Indian Pitchers

No, they are not from Cleveland. They're from India. The country has received a lot of attention recently due to the success of the movie 'Slumdog Millionaire.'
For years we have talked about how the U.S outsources just about everything to India.
Add Major League Baseball to that list.
The Pittsburgh Pirates signed 2 Indian men to major league baseball contracts. The young men had never thrown a baseball before and did not speak English.
How did they end up training to become pitchers? A sports agent thought in a country of 1.1 billion people, there must be someone who can throw a baseball at say 90 miles an hour. Enter the reality show called "The Million Dollar Arm." You could win $100,000 and a chance to play baseball. More than 37,000 people turned out to audition for the show. The top 2, Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel were invited to come to the U.S to learn to pitch like a major-leaguer.

With a lot of hard work, the men might get into a minor league game this year. An amazing story. Good Luck to them.

Barbie's Tramp Stamp

How do you go from Madame du Barbie (1999) to Totally Stylin' Tattoos Barbie? At 50, Barbie is going through a midlife crisis and getting tattoos. As you can imagine, some parents are upset. In case you forgot what Barbie used to look like, here are some pictures of Barbie through the years. How do you think Ken should deal with his midlife crisis?

Mmm... Donuts!

It is said that Canada boasts the highest per-capita doughnut consumption in the world. So it stands to reason that the Canadians are at the forefront in the quest to develop a healthier doughnut.

A doughnut recipe being developed there now would incorporate 2 grams of barley fiber per doughnut - about as much fiber as a slice of rye bread.

The researcher (whose name, without irony, is Swallow) says, ""... all food manufacturers -- including (of) doughnuts -- are interested in healthier products."

Uncle Sam wants your hand in marriage

If you're 18 to 30 years old and single, Uncle Sam wants to talk to you about marriage. Yep, the Federal Government is now in the wedding business.

Soon, the feds will throw $5 million into a media campaign to explain the benefits of marriage and tips on how to have a successful marriage. Here is what I want to know, are we going to fund the divorces too?


In an age when we are spending BILLIONS to bailout banks, 5 million may not seem like a lot of taxpayers money, but is this really the best use? The government has no place in my private life even if lack of marriages will somehow destroy society as we know it.

Can you come up with a worthwhile way for the government to spend 5 million dollars?

Update on Neverland Ranch Garage Sale

Update:

We previously posted on this blog that more than 2,000 items from Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch were going on sale this April. Now Michael Jackson's company, MJJ Productions has sued Julien Auctions, the company which is handling the sale of items from Neverland Ranch, saying that some of the items in the auction were never authorized for sale.

Illustration: Milan Trenc for New York Times, published June 15, 2005

Getting to the root of gray hair

Some new research is getting to the bottom of gray hair. The good news is we're living longer and we get to see our gray. They bad news is we get to live long enough to see our gray.

Our hair naturally produces hydrogen peroxide. As we age, our ability to break down hydrogen peroxide diminishes and our hair becomes gray.

What accounts for why some people go gray faster than others? Researchers say genetics play a role.

There are some hot gray haired people out there. Is there anything for appealing than a full head of gray? Who are some of your favorite gray haired people?

Design-a-baby

What if you could have your perfect vision of a child? It's tempting. We have amazing freedom to pick all sorts of things, so why not your child's hair and eye color. Or maybe you'd like him to become a gourmet chef.

Parents want the best for their children, this might be the next step.
One doctor says it's possible with a technology called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis or PGD.

Since this story first appeared, the doctor has been bombarded with requests. So much so that he says he'll not perform the procedure for cosmetic reasons right now, just for people who are worried about things like color blindness. If you could redesign yourself, what would you add? Do you want to be taller, a different race?

Married 23 times

How many times would you give marriage a shot? One, 10, 20? How about 23? That's what Mrs. Linda Wolfe did. She's now 68 years old and got married for the first time at the age of 16.

She is the most married woman, setting a Guinness world record. She has married a preacher, a bartender and a one-eyed inmate. Two of her husbands were gay, 2 homeless, and her last one was the most married man in the world (29 times.)

She now says she has nothing, but she'd consider getting married again because "it gets lonely."

Is that the bottom line, why we hook up with people and stay? We're worried about spending the rest of our lives alone. How many times would you give love a chance?

Can we talk?

There is a scientific reason why it helps to talk about your feelings when you are sad, or angry. There's also a reason why hanging around people with "negative vibes" can be bad for you. It's because of your right ventrolateral prefontalcortex and your amygdala.

Activating your right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex helps calm down the amygdala response.

Just thinking about your feelings to yourself and identifying them by name has the same calming, healing effect. Which is why Buddha, who achieved nirvana with lots of mindful meditation, is so chill and mellow.

In other words, talking about your negative feelings takes away the negative vibes you feel. And that's a good thing!

Must pee now

There is something funny about this. Imagine that you're stranded on an plane, 30,000 feet above soilid ground and you must pee. In order to relieve yourself, you need a coin to operate the toilet.

That's what the CEO of a low cost British carrier is considering. Ryanair is known for it's no-frills ways, but the backlash for this one has been swift. People are still not sure if the CEO was serious or just trying to drum up some publicity.



Either way, what if you have to go and you don't a coin. This brings back memories of living in NYC back in the day when you could use coins on city buses. Invariably, you'd stuck in traffic and someone would get on the bus without exact change. The bus driver pulls off while the person searches for coins and now we're stuck with this person. Of course, everyone on the bus digs around looking for coins for this person.



The difference with the toilet is, you could have a stinky problem on your hands if you did not find the coins fast enough. I wonder how much money Ryanair might save with a pay to pee toilet.

Recipes from the depression

At 93 years old, Clara Cannucciari lived through the Great Depression. Turns out she learned a lot about living on a little. Now, the woman with her own website, blog and Facebook page also has a cooking show that is a YouTube sensation. On a typical episode of "Great Depression Cooking with Clara," you will find recipes, advice and interesting stories. You'll find episodes like "Egg Drop Soup, Poorman's Meal, and Poorman's Feast." What's a feast? Meat at the table. Something Clara says was pretty rare.

If you put Clara's name into YouTube, you'll even find a thank you video from one of her legions of fans.

If nothing else, Clara is an inspiration. How many 93 year old do you know who are so hip?