Marshall Field's To Change Name

CHICAGO - It has always been much more than a department store. It's the magical place where parents brought their children to see the windows at Christmastime, where those children grew and did the same with their kids — stopping, of course, to visit the one true Santa Claus.

It is Marshall Field's. Or simply "Field's" to everybody in Chicago.

For longer than anyone can remember, Marshall Field's has been one of the few constants in an ever-changing city. With its famous clock, the store that was built in stages between 1892 and 1914 is as much a part of the city's landscape as Wrigley Field and Sears Tower.

On Tuesday, Federated Department Stores Inc., said it is planning to change to Macy's the name of all 62 Marshall Field's, including the one on State Street that dates back to 1892. And if it seems like just another merger or name change that happens all the time with very little fuss — even in Chicago, there wasn't much noise when the White Sox's Comiskey Park became U.S. Cellular Field — to those who grew up with Marshall Field's this is different.

"It's so awful I can't even believe it," said Tracy Kepler, a 37-year-old attorney who can recall in vivid detail time spent at the store as a child, including the trip to see the windows every Christmas Eve day, followed by a meal in the Walnut Room.

Kepler said she e-mailed the news to all sorts of people, including ex-Chicagoans who live all over the country.

"Everybody is outraged," she said. "I e-mailed my girlfriend who lives in Colorado and she had a conference call with her parents who now live in Omaha and her sister who's in Shreveport (Louisiana), and they're all commiserating about it."

Carol Kuhn of nearby Lake Zurich agreed. "Marshall Field's is Chicago," she said.

Jeanne Bedon of Park Ridge has her own memories of the store, starting with the Christmas parties that were closed to the public that she got to attend because her mom worked there every year. "It was so glamorous," she said.

It also was something that was uniquely Chicago. Despite being the template for stores such as Filene's in Boston and Gimbel's in New York, Marshall Field's belonged to just one place.

Chicago's biggest cheerleader, Mayor Richard Daley, took a different view.

Condoms Are Named for Clinton, Lewinsky

BEIJING - A rubber company in China has begun marketing condoms under the brand names Clinton and Lewinsky, apparently seeking to exploit the White House affair that led to the impeachment of America's 42nd president.

Spokesman Liu Wenhua of the Guangzhou Rubber Group said the company was handing out 100,000 free Clinton and Lewinsky condoms as part of a promotion to raise consumer awareness of its new products.

He said that after the promotion ends, the Clinton condoms will go on sale in southern China for 29.8 Yuan ($3.72) for a box of 12, while the Lewinsky model will be priced at 18.8 Yuan ($2.35) for the same quantity.

"The Clinton condom will be the top of our line," he said. "The Lewinsky condom is not quite as good."

Liu said the company had chosen to use the Clinton name because consumers viewed the former president as a responsible person, who would want to stress safe sex as an effective way to prevent the spread of the HIV virus.

"The names we chose are symbols of people who are responsible and dedicated to their jobs," he said. "I believe Bill Clinton cannot be unhappy about this because he's a very generous man."

Liu said the company did not believe using the Clinton and Lewinsky names constituted a violation of copyright or other laws.

"We have received full approval from the local Industrial and Commercial Bureau to start production," he said.

Clinton has campaigned aggressively for heightened AIDS awareness in China, where the disease is spreading rapidly.

An INXS "Star"

INXS hopes to have found a new sensation in the form of a onetime Elvis impersonator.

The Australian rock band tapped J.D. Fortune as its lead singer on CBS' Rock Star: INXS Tuesday, ending 13 weeks of American Idol-style competition among 15 performers.

"We're a band now," the 31-year-old Canadian singer told E! Online after his win.

"We're complete. That's an amazing thing. And I don't think age has anything to do with it because music is a language, and if you speak it fluently you can speak to other people in that language. And we all speak it fluently."

Fortune--who once paid the bills by imitating the King and, when that failed, lived out of a car--was true to his name, beating out Chicago rocker Marty Casey and Australian performer MiG Ayesa in the one-hour Rock Star finale.

The three performers each got to choose a classic rock cut to perform in front of INXS, cohosts Brooke Burke and Dave Navarro, the 12 eliminated contestants and a live audience at the same Los Angeles studio where American Idol is taped.

Ayesa, who gave up a lead role in the London-based Queen musical We Will Rock You to pursue the INXS gig, kicked off the show with a polished version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." Fortune followed with an uptempo take on the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Casey ended the set with an intense rendition of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here."

After a brief deliberation by the band members--Andrew, Tim and Jon Farriss, Kirk Pengilly and Garry Beers--Ayesa was given his walking papers. (Thus disproving an Internet conspiracy theory that he was the show's ringer brought in by the band and show producer Mark Burnett.)

The five band members then took the stage and performed one INXS song with each of the finalists. Crowd favorite Casey sang "Don't Change," while the brash Fortune, who was portrayed during the season as the most focused contestant, belted out "What You Need." After another deliberation, Tim Farriss announced Fortune as the new frontman.

After the finale, which was taped at 10 a.m., and post-show mini-concert during which the new INXS broke out some new material, Fortune met with the press.

"I'm going to sleep all day," he said, adding that his second rock star indulgence would be to "hang out with INXS all the time.

Fortune's first single with INXS, "Easy, Easy," is out today on Epic Records. It will be followed by a full-length album, Switch, on Nov. 29, with a world tour commencing in early 2006. Switch represents INXS' first new studio set since Hutchence's suicide in 1997.

"He's very passionate," bassist Beers said of his new mate. "He's got a lot of energy. And we feel comfortable about what hes going to bring to INXS and appreciate what we are offering him more than anybody. He's now an equal member of the brain trust of INXS performance-wise and in the studio. And that will unfold as we go along."

The band, with Fortune in tow, will now write songs together in addition to rehearsing tunes from INXS' back catalog of hits in advance of the fall release and impending word tour.

Already, "Pretty Vegas," a song Fortune co-wrote with Andrew Farris during Rock Star, is set to become an additional single, Beers says.

The tune was the second-best-selling single on MSN Music as of Tuesday, behind, ironically enough, Casey's original song "Trees."

Despite losing out to Fortune, the 31-year-old Casey won't disappear. Tim Farris said during the finale that INXS "would like to talk to you about possibly opening up for us on our upcoming world tour."

Suggested Replacements for Mardi Gras

5> Branson, MO -- Schlocktoberfest

4> Boston -- Farti Gras ("Throw Us Your Beans!")

3> Las Vegas -- Cash Wednesday

2> Elkhart, IN -- Absofrickinlutely Nothingfest

and the Suggested Replacement for Mardi Gras...

Suzie2000

Zenfish & Keniko

Thanks for the 2000+ post wishes

LucySorets

Thank you for the 2000+ post wishes.

marimariSRV

PhryDom

I hit 2000 posts yesterday morning and have continued on. I am like the traveling man.

michelle

My deepest sympathies . . .

Is a Kinks reunion in the cards?

Keniko & mikesb

Good ones

Light smoking triples risk of heart disease death

LONDON (Reuters) - Smokers who believe a few cigarettes a day don't do any harm will need to think again.

Norwegian scientists who studied the health records of 43,000 men and women have shown that even light smoking -- less than five cigarettes daily -- triples the risk of dying of heart disease or lung cancer.

"In both sexes, smoking 1-4 cigarettes per day was associated with a significantly higher risk of dying from ischaemic heart disease and from all causes, and from lung cancer in women," said Dr Aage Tverdal of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo.

The study was published in the journal Tobacco Control.

The researchers tracked the health and death records and smoking habits of the men and women, who had been screened for heart disease at the start of the study, from the 1970s to the 2002.

They found very little difference in the risk of dying from cancer, apart from lung cancer. Men who were light smokers were about three times more likely to die of lung cancer than non-smokers.

In women the risk rose to five times higher.

The dangers of smoking are well documented. Previous research has shown that smokers die on average 10 years earlier than non-smokers but stopping, even in middle age, can halve the risk.

It is also a risk factor for heart disease and stroke and raises the odds of developing age-related macular degeneration which is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly.

New G3

You can Pre-Order the new CD and DVD from sonymusicstore - but nothing mentioned about getting them autographed - like last time :(

Webmaster - will there be any autographed copies available like what was done for the Live In/From Denver CD/DVD?

Mexico tests slimming powers of tequila's agave

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Scientists from Mexico's tequila producing region say juice extracted from the blue agave plant, best known when distilled into the fiery spirit, may help dieters shed pounds and cut cholesterol.

Sadly for the world's growing band of tequila lovers, agave's possible health benefits are lost when the plant is distilled into alcohol.

Spiky agave plants has been cultivated on Mexico's arid central highlands for thousands of years and are woven into the country's history and mythology. But more than anything the plant is known for what Spanish invaders called "tequila wine."

Now however, researchers from the University of Guadalajara, close to the town of Tequila, the cradle of Mexico's famous alcoholic export, say the plant's powers go beyond inducing euphoric highs followed by crushing hangovers.

"The structure of agave contains, among other things, substances known as fructans," Dr Jorge Segura, who is leading the investigation, told Reuters on Thursday. "Fructans reduce cholesterol (and) alter the absorption of fat in the intestine, at least in animals."

Segura said he was confident his team of 20 researchers would have similar results during their 18-month study on humans, launched this week.

Inulin, a type of fructan, is a carbohydrate found in many plants, including asparagus. Some scientists believe inulin helps weight loss.

Segura hopes that his research will open new markets for Mexico's thousands of agave farmers who have watched prices plummet as supply outstrips demand.

michelle

Baker Writes 'Da Vinci'-Based Diet Book

PORTLAND, Maine - A baker who lost half his business to the low-carb craze has written a book based on the mathematical principles of the Golden Ratio, a formula used by Leonardo Da Vinci and made popular in the best seller, "The Da Vinci Code."

Stephen Lanzalotta created what he called the "Da Vinci Diet" in response to the decline in bread consumption brought on by the popularity of the Atkins Diet. The diet consists mostly of Mediterranean foods, including bread, fish, cheese, vegetables, meat, nuts and wine.

He signed a deal last year with Warner Books, a division of Time Warner Book Group, that included a six-figure advance.

Warner announced this week that the book, "The Diet Code: Revolutionary Weight-Loss Secrets From Da Vinci and The Golden Ratio," will be the first in its new line of books called Warner Wellness, which will focus on health, fitness, relationships and similar topics. The book is scheduled for release in April 2006.

The diet is based on the Golden Ratio or Phi, a mathematical value that was used to build the pyramids and has since been found to exist most everywhere in nature. Da Vinci is said to have used the Golden Ratio to proportion the human figures in his paintings — which is how it found its way into Dan Brown's hugely popular novel.

"The basic premise is most universal patterns are based on the Golden Ratio, including our bodies," Lanzalotta said Thursday in his bakery-restaurant, Sophia's.

Warner, in announcing the new series, said Lanzalotta's book is sure "to pique the interest of Da Vinci enthusiasts and weight-loss seekers alike."

When Lanzalotta, 46, opened his Italian bakery in 2000, bread accounted for 80 percent of sales. But after the Atkins fad kicked in two years ago, bread dropped to just 20 percent of sales. To make up for the decline, he expanded his menu with breakfast and Sunday brunch and increased his offerings of sandwiches and pastries.

His biggest sellers are now combination plates — typically bread or polenta, cheese, olives and braised chard or Italian coleslaw — featuring the basic mix of his diet: 20 percent protein, 52 percent carbohydrates and 28 percent fat.

Lanzalotta said his dietary regimen has helped him maintain a fit 160 pounds without giving up on the foods he loves.

Atari Brings Back Bygone Era

SAN FRANCISCO - Some sobering news for anyone who has recently crested 40: Everything you grew up with is now officially retro. Clothes, music, hair styles — even video games.

Long before "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," there was "Pong," a simple video game from Nolan Bushnell and the folks at the original Atari Inc. Two paddles, one ball and no Hot Coffee mod to unlock hidden sex scenes. THAT was gaming.

The Atari brand has traded hands in the years since "Pong" hit the scene, but the new owners are still milking some mileage out of this game and 39 others with Atari Flashback 2. This $30 device offers a fun and affordable glimpse into the gaming's past — one that, for better and worse, looks nothing like the present.

The console itself looks like a scaled-down version of an old Atari 2600, with faux wood paneling and other dated details. There are no cartridges to plug in, as technology advances have made it easy to stuff all of the games onto a small chip inside. And the controllers are exactly like the Atari 2600 joysticks of yore.

The unit connects to your home television through common audio and video RCA inputs. Many sets have these connections on the front, which is a bonus with this console because I found the cables that come with it a bit short.

Among the 40 titles are classics like "Centipede," "Asteroids," "Missile Command," "Yar's Revenge" and "Pitfall." Some are licensed from Activision Inc., which made games for the 2600, but most are original Atari gems.

How do these titles hold up in the face of today's video games with highly detailed graphics, Dolby Digital sound and online connectivity? As well as could be expected of large primary-colored blocks jumping around the screen.

But there is magic in the way those blocks moved. Hours of magic.

Games like "Missile Command" have the type of player interaction that remains viable in plot and movement. My mind was thrust back decades as I began to protect the cities closest to my ammunition bunker, keeping an eye peeled for smart bombs, those little blinking diamonds that fell from the sky and tried to evade my explosions.

And "Millipede," a sequel to the popular "Centipede" title, was a blast. I was racking up extra lives on only my second attempt as I weaved past that infernal spider that crept from the corners seeking to squash me.

The action games held up well, but adventure games like "Haunted House" and "Wizard" were mostly duds and offered little real suspense.

Seriously. How scary can a blinking green square be anyway?

The sounds produced by these games are rudimentary at best. Even my cell phone makes more intricate tones.

Nonetheless, lots of people simply refuse to let go of retro-gaming.

Consider that many who long for old quarter-gobbling arcade games like "Joust," "Defender" and "Crystal Castle" have gravitated to free software called MAME, short for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. MAME can run the original ROMs from hundreds of arcade game machines. And those ROMs are also readily available online.

The legality of using MAME to play ROMs you don't actually own is up for debate. But an enthusiastic online community is keeping the old titles alive, and there's no debating the lure of a pixelated pastime that helped define a generation.

fretrider

I did receive your emails - but they have been sent to the vastness of my recycle bin and then flushed down the drain.

There are many sites where you can upload your music and then tell us to go visit - so that we can listen to your music - safely.

Left-handed women's risk of breast cancer higher-study

LONDON (Reuters) - Left-handed women are more than twice as likely as right-handers to suffer from breast cancer before reaching menopause, Dutch scientists said on Monday.

More than a million women are diagnosed with breast cancer worldwide each year. Three-quarters of cases occur after menopause, which usually begins around the age of 50.

Researchers at the University Medical Center in Utrecht in the Netherlands speculate that there is a shared origin early in life for both left handedness and developing breast cancer, possibly exposure to hormones in the womb.

"Left handedness is associated with breast cancer, most specifically pre-menopausal breast cancer," said Cuno Uiterwaal, an assistant professor of clinical epidemiology at the university, in an interview.

He and his colleagues studied 12,000 healthy, middle-aged women born between 1932-1941 who were part of a breast screening program. The scientists determined their hand preference and followed up their medical history to see which women developed breast cancer.

"If we take pre-menopausal and post-menopausal breast cancer then there was a 40 percent increased risk," Uiterwaal said of left-handed women.

But when they spilled it further the scientists found most of the excess risk was in breast cancer before the menopause.

"We found that left-handed women are more than twice as likely to develop pre-menopausal breast cancer as non-left handed women," the researchers said in the report published online by the British Medical Journal.

Other risk factors such as family history of breast cancer, numbers of pregnancies, smoking habits, and social and economic status were considered.

About 8 percent to 9 percent of women are left-handed. But the scientists said the findings should not alarm them.

"What our study intends to do is focus on this area. We do not know all the causes of breast cancer, that is why we should continue. This may be one new factor that leads us to a better understanding of the aetiology (cause of the illness)," Uiterwaal added.

About 5 percent to 10 percent of breast cancers are hereditary. Most are due to mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. The earlier the illness is diagnosed and treated, the better the prognosis is for the woman.

Hosed at the gas pump -- by your debit card

You may have topped off with just $20 worth of unleaded, but the debit-card transaction could freeze as much as $75 in your account, sometimes for days.

MSN News - If you ever use your debit card to pay at the pump, watch out: Did you know that every time you top off the tank, a chunk of your checking account can be blocked -- sometimes for days, with the potential to cause you all sorts of financial headaches and bounced checks?

That’s what happened to Jessica Hathaway, a state employee from Allentown, Pa. Earlier this year Hathaway stopped during her commute to fill up her car at Rauch’s Mini Mart, a Shell station. She bought $22.29 worth of gas using her debit card.

The next day Hathaway balanced her checkbook using her bank’s telephone service -- and something didn’t add up. The bank said that she’d made two purchases the previous morning: one for the $22.29 and one for $75.

Trouble is, she’d only bought the gas.

Finally Hathaway called the service station, and an attendant explained to her what few people know.

How your money gets frozen If you use your debit card at a pump that does not require a PIN, the station regularly will block out an amount -- often $50 or $75 -- on your card.

That amount doesn't “un-block” as you drive away. Instead, the hold remains until that evening, and sometimes for up to several days, until the station does a “batch” transaction, according to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

Each big oil company has a different policy:

Shell places a $75 hold for gas purchases, and it can stay in place for as long as three business days.

British Petroleum places a $75 hold on accounts when customers use debit or credit cards, but the hold is usually lifted after about two hours, said spokeswoman Sarah Howell. The same policy applies at its Amoco and Arco stations, Howell said.

Chevron applies only a $1 hold to debit cards, to ensure that a card is active, says a spokeswoman. The reasoning behind this policy is that oil companies don’t know how much gas you’re about to pump -- only PIN-based debit transactions are processed immediately -- and so they earmark a certain amount of your money. “We want to make sure that we’re protected, that we get payment for the gasoline,” says BP’s Howell.

This general idea isn’t new. Credit-card companies have done it for a long time. (Think of when you rent a hotel room or a car, and the attendant runs your card upon your arrival to ensure you can pay for it.) It’s less of an issue with credit-card owners, however, because you’re usually told that it’s happening and you’re probably not flirting with your credit limits.

If a company puts a chunk of dough in your checking account off-limits without your knowledge, however, it can cause real migraines.

kingvai