Sweep away your fashion cobwebs

By Sharon Mosley Monday, March 13, 2006, 05:39 AM EST

Great Denim

It's time to take a good look inside your closet - not just before you rush off to work and grab your favorite sweater once again from the top of the pile - but a very long, hard look at all those clothes you keep hanging onto just because you can't bear to get rid of anything you might, just might, wear again in 10 years.

Yes, I know vintage is in, but unless you want to search through mothballs and chaos every day of your life, you're going to occasionally need to make a clean sweep, and Kendall Farr, author of "The Pocket Stylist" (Gotham Books; $20), one of my favorite style guides, is an expert on getting rid of those fashion cobwebs.

Murrow's biopic: the real American patriot act

By Robert J Hawkins Monday, March 13, 2006, 04:58 AM EST

Good Night, and Good Luck

Politicians have abused power as long as there have been politicians - and the public has been uncomfortably reticent about fighting back for as long as there have been politicians. It takes a daring few to point to our elected evils and risk losing all.

CBS television newsman Edward R. Murrow and his producer Fred Friendly were just such people in the 1950s when an unhinged little troll from Minnesota, Sen. Joseph McCarthy, salvaged his failing career by falsely painting hundreds of people as Communist sympathizers.

Researchers: Does 'brain fat' dictate risky behavior?

By Anonymous Monday, March 13, 2006, 02:06 AM EST

MATTER OF COURSE

In popular vernacular, the human brain is "gray matter" - the 100 billion or so nerve cell bodies that form the basis and biology of our minds, and give the brain its characteristic pinkish-gray hue.

But white matters, too. "White matter" is myelin, a pale lipid or fat that envelopes the trillions of fibrous axons connecting neuron to neuron, making the brain a singular, functioning whole.

Zoos have prescription for avian flu

By Anonymous Sunday, March 12, 2006, 02:54 PM EST

Avian Flu

When you have 3,000 birds - some rare and endangered - you've got to be worried about the bird flu.

No one at the San Diego Zoological Society wants to lose an endangered red-crowned crane, for instance, or a colorful little Micronesian kingfisher, which is extinct in the wild.

But San Diego Zoo officials say past maladies, such as the exotic Newcastle disease three years ago, have prepared them for the arduous steps that will be needed if a virulent form of avian influenza crosses American shores.

Author sees a future where biology and technology unite

By Anonymous Sunday, March 12, 2006, 02:47 PM EST

Merge Ahead

SINGULARITY: The culmination of the merger of our biological thinking and existence with our technology, resulting in a world that is still human but that transcends our biological roots. There will be no distinction, post-Singularity, between human and machine or between physical and virtual reality.

Ray Kurzweil made a name for himself predicting our technological future. He foresaw the World Wide Web and a time when a computer would beat a human at chess. Bill Gates calls him "the best person I know at predicting the future of artificial intelligence."

Scientific data flows from growing Samoan volcano

By Anonymous Sunday, March 12, 2006, 02:37 PM EST

CURIOSITY PEAKED

In 1889, Robert Louis Stevenson sailed into the Samoan islands and fell in love with their rugged, verdant peaks and palm-studded, white-sand beaches. With his wife, he purchased 314 acres of jungle, built a house and remained for the rest of his life.

Stevenson, of course, was the author of "Treasure Island" and other literary classics, but it's unlikely that he imagined or could fully appreciate the value of a different kind of treasure buried beneath the islands: not gold, jewels or pirate's booty, but new and fundamental knowledge about how the world works.

Everybody can participate in the wearing o' the green

By Sharon Mosley Sunday, March 12, 2006, 01:53 PM EST

GO FOR THE GREEN

If you love to wear the color green, you're in luck. This spring, nature's most plentiful color is on the scene of many designer runways as one of the freshest ways to pick up the spirits of your wardrobe. You don't have to be Irish to celebrate the wearing of the green this St. Patrick's Day. In fact, you'll need to add more than just a shamrock pinned to your lapel!

From short green-and-white dresses at Calvin Klein to the Kelly green tunics at Alexander McQueen to the silk jersey dresses at Roland Mouret, green in all its variations of hues has trickled down from designers of high fashion to casual sweaters at The Gap. Designers and retailers at all levels go for the green to add life to spring fashions and accessories.

Monochromatic color schemes are very calming

By Rose Bennett Gilbert Sunday, March 12, 2006, 01:46 PM EST

CLASSIC DUO

Q: What does "monochromatic" mean anyway? I thought it was all about earth-tones, like all-beige. But my friend's interior decorator has suggested doing her living room all in shades of blue, which she's calling "monochromatic." Help me out here.

A: Let's analyze the word itself. First, mono means "one"; chromatic means of or relating to color. Ergo, the decorator is right in calling an all-blue room "monochromatic." In fact, any room done in any single color qualifies. It's just that the naturals and neutrals that first gave rise to the "monochromatic" concept in the l970s still monopolize the word in most people's minds more than 30 years later.

No time like the present for a road trip to 'Elizabethtown'

By Robert J Hawkins Sunday, March 12, 2006, 01:40 PM EST

â€˜ELIZABETHTOWNâ€™

Call me crazy, but I truly love "Elizabethtown" (Paramount, 3 1/2 stars) in all its radiant, hopeful, sprawling, disorienting glory. This movie is like a fairly complex dark wine that is best savored after you leave it to breathe a bit.

That might explain why so many critics dismissed it. They are people in a hurry with lots of movies to see. This one is in no hurry to unfold and it certainly doesn't unfold in a traditional beginning-middle-end structure.

Milestones in psychology

By Paramus Post Sunday, March 12, 2006, 05:17 AM EST

Milestones in Psychology

1247 - Priory of St. Mary of Bethlehem is founded in London and it becomes the world's oldest psychiatric treatment facility. Later named the Bethlem Royal Hospital; locals dub it "Bedlam."

1487 - Malleus Maleficarum, the Inquisition's guide to diagnosing and punishing deviant behavior, is published. Nineteen editions follow in the next two centuries.

1566 - First psychological hospital in the Americas is established in Mexico.

Head cased: from the unusual to the abnormal

By Anonymous Sunday, March 12, 2006, 04:05 AM EST

Head cased

The latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual - a kind of field guide to mental illness - cites more than 350 specific disorders, from autism and dyslexia to trichotillomania, which is the irresistible compulsion to pull one's hair out.

Then there's the list of generally recognized phobias, currently at almost 300, from apeirophobia (fear of infinity) to zemmiphobia (fear of the great mole rat).

A real passion for fakes

By Sharon Mosley Saturday, March 11, 2006, 05:06 AM EST

Click picture to enlarge

What do you do when you've got thousands of fabulous vintage gems you've collected for more than 30 years? If you're Carole Tanenbaum, you not only start selling them, you acquire a star-studded clientele like Sarah Jessica Parker and Catherine Zeta-Jones and, of course, you also write a book.

Tanenbaum's latest project - "Fabulous Fakes: A Passion for Vintage Costume Jewelry" (Artisan, 2006, $35) showcases 800 pieces from her private collection of 3,500 pieces of costume jewels - a hobby that started when she and her husband viewed a collection in London in the early 1970s.

"I was immediately drawn to the colors, scale and designs," she recalls, "a kaleidoscope of gems. I was hooked and my passion for fabulous fakes hasn't abated."

Web site has live donors for those who need organs

By Anonymous Saturday, March 11, 2006, 01:02 AM EST

TRANSPLANT NEED

When Kathy Lee found out her kidneys were failing, she turned to her doctor for help and her family and friends for support.

But the medicine Lee's doctor prescribed to halt the deterioration of her kidney function didn't work. And while some of her friends and family were willing to supply a kidney, they weren't suitable donors.

Always display your collections together

By Rose Bennett Gilbert Friday, March 10, 2006, 06:49 PM EST

Clik picture to enlarge

Q: I can't seem to get any color into our home. Part of the problem is that my husband thinks white is the only "color" for every room. Even the baths are all white tile. I fixed that by using some bright towels and a colorful shower curtain, but what do I do in the living room, for instance, where the walls are white and the furniture and floors are brown?

A: Think small. Little things really do mean a lot in decorating. Just as easily as you jazzed up that sterile bath with bright fabrics, you can breathe color into your white and brown living room, using well-chosen accessories.

Kia banks on numerous features, lower price to sell Sedona

By Mark Maynard Friday, March 10, 2006, 04:00 PM EST

Click picture to enlarge

Kia is hoping that price and a long list of features are enough to sell its redesigned 2006 Sedona minivan. That could be a tall order, however, given that the traditional minivan might be losing some of its luster as an economical people mover. Trying to take a bigger slice of the minivan pie might not be as easy as just offering a competent vehicle, which the new Sedona certainly is.

Nothing's scarier than teenage wizards eyeing each other

By Robert J Hawkins Friday, March 10, 2006, 03:52 PM EST

Click picture to enlarge

And so our much-beloved wizardry franchise takes a long-dreaded but still unsettling turn for the darker side in its fourth incarnation, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (Warner, 4 stars). Yes, Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and his comrades become teenagers.

Well, sure, the rise of the Dark Arts and He Who Must Not Be Named (Ralph Fiennes) provide for great thrills, drama and good fun. But that's nothing compared to watching a bunch of awkward young wizards all hit puberty at the same time. The drama is enough to kill you, cinematically speaking.

The puzzle of Alzheimer's

By Anonymous Thursday, March 09, 2006, 06:25 PM EST

Click picture to enlarge

For 72-year-old Mary Lynch, it's a no-brainer.

Although there's no cure for Alzheimer's disease, some studies theorize that by keeping the body and mind healthy and active, we can delay the disease or possibly prevent it.

That's good enough for this former Air Force nurse. Although Lynch is retired, she's not idle. If she's not walking around the San Diego Zoo or playing golf, she's volunteering at the Alzheimer's Association, reading one of her favorite historical novels, or completing crossword puzzles.

"When it comes to the brain, if you don't use it, you're going to lose it," says the San Diego resident, who is a diabetic (one of the risk factors for Alzheimer's) and has a family history of the disease.

New cancer treatment much more precise

By Anonymous Thursday, March 02, 2006, 06:52 PM EST

Click Picture to Enlarge

Lying on his back on a hard table, Michael Robinson holds himself perfectly still, closes his eyes, quietly sings gospel songs to himself and seeks guidance from above.

During the next 10 to 15 minutes, a machine that looks like an oversized hair dryer from a beauty shop swivels around his head, buzzing and shooting high-energy X-rays into his mouth.

March - Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

By Mel Fabrikant Tuesday, February 28, 2006, 04:16 PM EST

Board of Health Urges Early Cancer Detection

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Paramus Health Officer, John Hopper, urges you to schedule an annual visit with your doctor. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer found in our country and responsible for more than 50,000 deaths each year, yet it is also one of the most curable forms of the disease. Caught early and with proper treatment, most patients return to normal lives.

Doctors debate the current medical methods of detecting prostate cancer

By Anonymous Friday, February 24, 2006, 12:05 AM EST

Click picture to enlarge

Harry Truman was famously frustrated by economic advisers who could never offer an observation without adding, "but on the other hand." The president joked that what he needed was a one-armed economist.

It's kind of that way when it comes to screening for prostate cancer.

The problem rests with the PSA test. An elevated reading may indicate a tumor, but on the other hand...

"It's only one test, only one view, and you cannot really rely on that alone," said Dr. Israel Barken, a urologist and leader of the San Diego Prostate Cancer Support Group.

Sweep away your fashion cobwebs

Murrow's biopic: the real American patriot act

Researchers: Does 'brain fat' dictate risky behavior?

Zoos have prescription for avian flu

Author sees a future where biology and technology unite

Scientific data flows from growing Samoan volcano

Everybody can participate in the wearing o' the green

Monochromatic color schemes are very calming

No time like the present for a road trip to 'Elizabethtown'

Milestones in psychology

Head cased: from the unusual to the abnormal

A real passion for fakes

Web site has live donors for those who need organs

Always display your collections together

Kia banks on numerous features, lower price to sell Sedona

Nothing's scarier than teenage wizards eyeing each other

The puzzle of Alzheimer's

New cancer treatment much more precise

March - Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

Doctors debate the current medical methods of detecting prostate cancer

Sponsor Ads

Top 10 Stories in 30 Days

Top 10 in 30 Days

Text Sponsor Ads

Popular tags at this site