Reasonable people can differ on beauty contests. Like the military, some ardent supporters argue pageants build confidence and open doors for young people. I don’t buy the argument in either case, because of the dangers involved in putting yourself on the line in the name of defense. In the case of the military, it’s to defend our country. In the case of the pageants, it’s the egos of the mothers behind the scenes who are exposing their kids to chemicals and the …

Tags: beauty standards , child abuse , children's rights , entertainment , feminism , Little Miss Perfect , reality show , television , Western beauty , women

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“Will Sandra Bullock get nominated?” asked my 13-year-old daughter, blown away like the rest of us by the feel-good Christmas movie of the season, The Blind Side.

“I’m not sure,” I said, “but she should.”

Bullock clinched the Best Actress for me when her character stopped the family car to help a boy clad in a thin tee shirt, walking and shivering in the rain. She had seen him at her kids’ Christian private school, and asked him if he had a place to stay that night. “Don’t you dare lie …

Tags: charity , entertainment , Michael Oher , movie , Sandra Bullock , The Blind Side , Tuohy

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The casting call went out last January, not to big Hollywood agents but to animal shelters and rescue groups across the country.

Looking for four-legged crooners, black and white, who can get along with others on tour, do the old soft paw on stage, and won’t leap off into the audience when they hear the sound of applause.

Dozens of shelter dogs got the parts for the The 101 Dalmatians Musical including Rascal, a puppy with a broken leg found on the side of the road. Like the others, he has …

Tags: animal cruelty , animals , Broadway , Dalmatians , Disney , dogs , entertainment , family , musicals , pets , rescue dogs , shelters , stage , Styx , theater

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Read all about it! Entertainment Weekly has published the first video advert with built-in speakers to get the attention of readers conditioned to respond to screens.

A report by the BBC explains the screen is built into a wafer-thin, cardboard insert and contains an ad for Pepsi Max, as well as trailers for CBS television.

“This is an extraordinary way to refresh how we interact with consumers,” said Pepsi-Cola’s chief marketing officer, Frank Cooper.

Desperate ploy, marketing breakthrough or annoyance? The chip technology, which holds up …

Tags: adverts , batteries , CBS , computers , consumers , entertainment , greeting cards , liquid crystal display , Magazines , media , paper , Pepsi , print , readers , rechargeable , sales , technology , television ads

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When blues singer/guitarist and songwriter Susan Tedeschi takes the stage at the Rodney Strong Winery in Healdsburg, CA  on Saturday, August 22, around 6 PM, you’ll be hearing deeply soulful, raw emotion laced with tender vulnerability in a voice that can go anywhere, do anything and leave you blissfully in tatters.

Backed by the slinky  slide guitar riffs of husband Derek Trucks of the Allman Brothers Band, Tedeschi screams like Joplin and purrs like Bonnie Raitt. Hers is a rare breed of swamp rock that brings out the gator …

Tags: concert , entertainment , festival , green , Rodney Strong , solar power , winery

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Wondering what to get your little Susie Homemaker for her birthday? How bout an eco-friendly appliance, like the Wonderworld Washing Machine Play Set or Kitchen Sink, $90 at Toys R Us?

Just think of the hours of fun loading the machine on a cold cycle with green detergent or scrubbing those vegan casserole pans by hand! “No dessert, Miss Susie, until that pile of organic cotton napkins is folded and put away!” Speaking as the mother of two chronically messy daughters (why hang up that dress when you can toss it …

Tags: appliance , children , decor , entertainment , family , gift , toy , wood

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Monopoly offers green houses, but that’s about the only thing green in the classic board game we adored as kids (but never could finish). No one was better at it than my dad, a real estate developer versed in the game of buying what you land on before some other shnook gets it and makes a fat profit every time you visit his hotel development.  What were the lessons? Buy more than you sell, build it up as quickly and as cheaply as possible, and the one who bankrupts …

Tags: education , entertainment , games , green , parenting

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