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?