KBTV

My First Night in LA Hear Me Roar!

Jason Parsley — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 16:34:00 +0000

It’s my first solo night in Los Angeles and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself. You see my VP of Operations, Dave O’Hanlon, who accompanied me on my cross-country voyage caught a terrible cold on our way West, so he rightfully chose to stay in bed. I, however, decided to forage slightly north up Lincoln Boulevard toward Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade for a quick look at the new Apple Store and a glimmer of hope for a movie at 5 o’clock.

I hate crowds so I chose “Michael Clayton.” This was my thinking: It’s a movie that has been out for more than a bit – and disappointed at the Academy Awards. Good sign, I thought. I was encouraged even more when the pony-tailed blond with creamy sky-blue-eye-shadow working the ticket counter told me with a smile: “Honey, the theater’s empty.”

Whatever.

I bought a ticket and hunkered down with my Sugar-Free Red Bull.

“Michael Clayton,” the movie, I loved it. The theater was horrible … freezing; I felt like I was trapped in the factory warehouse in “Rocky.” And the plot? The stratagem was maudlin and dull. I had seen it umpteen times before.

But Ahh! The performances! The performances! Clooney, Pollack, Wilkinson and Swinton. Suddenly, I realized how much this film benefited from its serendipitous casting. Switch out those four muses, and the energy and tension might have just evaporated. But it didn’t – not for me.

Tilda Swinton, whom I had not seen before was as cold and clinical as the picture needed her to be. In one pivotal scene, Swinton can be seen rehearsing the lies she will give in an interview to which Sidney Pollack needs her “step-up.” First-time director Tony Gilroy helps blur the line between fiction and fact by interspersing her practiced speech with the actual media cross-examination. It's one of those crisp interactions Gilroy uses throughout the film to wring deeper meaning out of what could have been a simple scene. Swinton won the 2008 “Best Supporting Actress” Academy Award for her performance. No surprise, there.

The plot itself centers around Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson,) a treasured friend of Clayton’s, a bipolar victim who has stopped taking his pills and now glows with reckless zeal and conviction. Edens is by far the most brilliant lawyer in the firm; he is the lead attorney in the $3 billion class-action suit filed against U/North -- the company that is being sued by salt-of-the-earth farmers because of a germ killer U/North used despite knowing it was hazardous to people's health. The issue … or “challenge” as Clayton espouses, is that the brilliant Edens simply cannot stay on his meds. If it were only that simple.

Let’s just say the story is about the lawsuit without really being about the lawsuit, if that makes sense. The picture, after all, isn't titled U/North, correct?

The bottom line is that the real tension in the film comes from Clayton’s zeal to go toe to toe with U/North's steely in-house chief counsel (Swinton) and his race against the clock to pull together the unraveling threads of a massive conglomerate's tapestry of lies.

"Clayton" is a resonant throwback with deep roots in the political thrillers of the 1970s: slick, smart and saturated in dramatic paranoia. A brainy pastiche of set-ups, pay-offs, company malfeasance and revenge in absorbing shades of grey.

Finally a film that doesn’t just make you think; it makes you feel.

Kate in LA: A New Adventure Begins

Jason Parsley — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 16:33:00 +0000

I've got some big news. I'M MOVING! After launching my first show "Kate's take" just fourteen months ago up at the beach on Hillsboro Mile and yes after sweating bullets shooting outside in the soggy stifling Florida summer I decided last Fall to move the show inside to bring you the more sophisticated "WatercoolerDiaries". Well, after reporting umpteen health reports, boxing in the ring, fishing, cooking, skydiving and swimming with the dolphins, I decided to make my move. Yes I'm off to find my dreams on the West Coast – Los Angeles! Santa Monica to be exact. The new show? It's to be titled ... "KateInLA!" We plan to launch sometime this Spring. Please stay tuned for regular blog updates!

Skiing in Vail!

Jason Parsley — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 06:47:00 +0000

Gas-pumping Robot

Jason Parsley — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:28:00 +0000

Some of you may remember the good old days when there were still full-service gas stations, where a neatly dressed, smiling attendant would pump your gas for you with a smile. There are still a few places where this is still the case, like if you stop in a remote section of New Jersey, but for the most part self-service gas stations are the norm. Well, if you’re taking a trip to the Netherlands any time soon and stop to fill up your tank, you may encounter quite a different type of person filling up your tank – one made of metal with computer chips and lots of wires…yes, a robot.

A group of Dutch inventors recently unveiled a $111,100 car-fuelling robot. They claim it’s the first of its kind.

This high tech robot works by registering the car as it pulls up to the pump and matching it to a database of fuel cap designs and fuel types. A robotic arm fitted with multiple sensors then extends from a regular gas pump. It carefully opens the car’s flap, unscrews the fuel cap, grabs the fuel nozzle and sticks it inside the tank. It basically works much like a human arm would, and the inventors claim, it’s just as efficient.

The robot’s developer and owner of the gas station putting it to work, Nico van Staveren, says the got the idea for this invention when he was on a farm and saw a robotic arm milking a cow. He thought, “If a robot can do that then why can’t it fill a car tank.” He figured that drivers, and gas pumping attendants, shouldn’t have to get their hands dirty or smell the gas on their bodies.

Staveren hopes to introduce his robot, called the “Tankpitstop” to several Dutch stations by the end of the year.

The only limitation is that the robot can’t fill the tank of a car whose contours and dimensions aren’t recorded in its database. It if tries, it could scratch the car. The robot also doesn’t work on tanks that have locks on them.

Okay, so say these Dutch stations install this gas-pumping robot. Will anyone actually want to use it? One Dutchman filling his black Alfa Romeo near Staveren’s station said, “Why not? I guess I could keep my hands free and clean, but I’d hope they have good insurance.” He makes a good point!

The Beatles in Space!

Jason Parsley — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 02:51:00 +0000

This week NASA sent a transmission of The Beatles 1968 song "Across the Universe" shooting into space towards residents of the Polaris star system. But those residents – if there are any – won't be getting the message for 431 years. So why'd they do it? To commemorate the 40 anniversary of the song's recording and NASA's 50th birthday.

NASA, with help from friends at Spain's space agency, beamed an MP3 of the four-minute song from a giant space antenna near Madrid where it began its long road to Polaris – also known as the North Star – which is about 2.5 quadrillion miles away. But before NASA could send The Beatles’ song into space they had to get permission.

Martin Lewis, a Low Angeles-based Beatles Historian, got the OK from former Beatle Paul McCartney, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and the two companies that own the rights to The Beatles' music. According to an Associate Press report, one of the companies, Apple Records, said that it was happy to approve the song for this transmission because it is "always looking for new markets."

The date of the “Beatles in space launch” had a few more significant dates attached to it. It also marked the 50th anniversary of Explorer 1, the first US satellite and the founding 45 years ago of the Deep Space Network, a system of antennas across the globe that transmits and receives signals from distant stars.

The event may, however, turn out to be simply an exercise in posterity, since there is a good chance The Beatles' music will never reach alien ears – assuming they even have any!

To pick up the signal NASA sent the citizens of Polaris would have to have an antenna and receiver. These alien listeners would also need the technology to decrypt the mp3 format. And all this, of course, hinges on there actually being anyone on Polaris.

Despite the obstacles, those involved are optimistic. The diligent Beatles' historian Mr. Lewis told The Guardian "We don't know if there's life out there, but I'd like to think the US government wouldn't be spending taxpayers' money of this if there was no hope.

Even if all those things I mentioned before do work out and there actually are extra terrestrial beings listening, we can’t expect a reply for a long, long, long time. Well exactly when you ask. In the words of NASA scientists.. not for a "long, long, long” time.

Polaris, aka the North Star, is situated at the end of the handle of the little dipper. As I said before about 2.5 quadrillion miles away. Traveling at light speed, the signal will take 431 years to reach the star and at least that long for a response to get back to us. So we're looking at about 862 years!!!

So what does former Beatle Paul McCartney, the last living member of the band, think about this whole project. He dashed off a short, handwritten letter to NASA before the launch saying: "Amazing! Well done, NASA! Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul."

Physicians for Peace

Jason Parsley — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 07:30:00 +0000

People always ask me, how do you get your story ideas? I realize I cover a wide range of topics so it’s an appropriate question. The short answer is I am endlessly curious and I try to engage in life as much as I can. I’ll give you an example, an old friend of mine, a hugely talented entrepreneur named Court Coursey, invited me up to a dinner party in Palm Beach. Before dinner, a group of us walked down the street to a cocktail party where I had no idea what to expect. Low and behold a man stands up and begins to make a presentation. His name is Ron Sconyers and he’s the Chief Executive Officer of an organization called Physicians for Peace. I perched on the side of a chair in the living room and listened intently while various members of Physicians for Peace delivered short presentations. I thought what a terrific organization! And so here I am.

Physicians for Peace bills itself as an international humanitarian non-profit medical education organization.

So … what does that mean? When the CEO stood up he provided a parable "if you give a man a fish you can feed him for a day. If you teach a man how to fish? You can feed him for a lifetime." Basically they’re not just coming in and helping people. They are teaching them how to help themselves. This idea is what separates them from other similar non-profits like Doctors Without Boarders.

The MISSION STATEMENT at Physicians for Peace is to further the cause of world peace and international goodwill by providing quality medical education and care to those in need. To date, they’ve completed programs in 50 different countries. How it works is they’ll send in a team of medical volunteers who specialize in the areas of care the country needs most. These teams will stay from one to six weeks.

During that time they train local medical professionals and begin all sorts of medical programs, which the host countries sustain and replicate. They also, however, offer their expertise by treating the people, reshaping eye sockets, correcting urinary and genital defects, fitting prosthetic limbs, repairing burn scars and clef palates. They’ve even done open-heart surgery and performed a range of cancer therapies.

Physicians for Peace was legally founded in 1989 by internationally recognized humanitarian Dr. Charles E. Horton, Sr., on the principle that those who desire to heal owe allegiance to no one country, ethnicity or creed. And that’s where the “peace” mentioned in their name fits into the equation.

They have medical volunteers from diverse cultures and opposing sides of ethnic and international conflicts working side by side, fostering this idea of a community that transcends race or culture. A few examples: Physicians for Peace have united teams of doctors from Iran and Iraq, Turkey and Greece, the Philippines and Japan…and, yes, even Palestine and Israel.

What’s got these volunteers from places facing bitter divides and even violence working so well together? A dyer need. The developing world carries 90 percent of the global disease burden yet has only 10 percent of the medical resources, this according to the United Nations Foundation. And most of these diseases are curable…we’ve had the treatment since the 1950s.

I was hit by the reality of this need that night in Palm Beach when a doctor whose specialty is OBGYN. She stood up and told us that 1 in every 12 women die in child birth in Liberia. About 1 in every 6,000 women dies in childbirth here in the US. WOW, I thought. She went on to share her story of traveling to Liberia and teaching everything from midwifery to actual birthing procedures. But what struck me was the ending line of her presentation: “If you heal someone, you help one person. If you teach someone to heal, you help many." It was incredibly moving.

To learn more about Physicians for Peace check out their web site….www.physiciansforpeace.org/

Born Rich Baby!

Jason Parsley — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:48:00 +0000

This is a bit of a segue, but today I wanted to talk about a website titled BornRich.org. I stumbled upon BornRich.org while perusing PC Magazine’s Top 100 Websites. They bill themselves as “BornRich is an Instablogs Network site. Its sole aim is to help you spend all your hard-earned money on the snootiest thingmagig around. Our people are working around the clock to find ways to empty your wallet and make you bankrupt.”

With the subprime fiasco? We need more forces to make people bankrupt? Well we’re not just talking about people, apparently we’re talking about BORNRICH … people

Here are some of the highlights that I found!

My favorite? The Sigzilla telephoto zoom lens, it’s one sexy beast! This uber-telescope/huge telephoto zoom lens, which involves a necessary Li-ion battery to provide power for focusing and zooming, is a MUST HAVE! Price tag? 25 grand!

NEXT UP!

The Indoor Shooting system … let’s you get trigger happy at home!

To make all your unfulfilled gun-wielding fantasies come true, check out the N Range Indoor Shooting System. Stick a picture of your boss/wife/mother-in-law’s head over the aim, and you’re good to go! The Standard version retails for $1,300 and the Executive version goes for $3,500. Makes a better mental health investment than a nosey shrink – any day!

Perhaps you don’t want to shoot your boss? The alternative to NOT going to jail, the Gorgeous Walk-In Humidor for true cigar connoisseurs.

Developed by the legendary Swiss humidor maestros Michel Perrenoud, S.A., the home humidor is perfect for a living room or smoking cellar installation. Though primarily conceptualized for hotels and cigar bars which feature separate smoking rooms, the home humidor gives you and your family the peace and quiet their separate lifestyles require. Needless to say you? You’ll have to dish out precisely $82,383 plus installation and international shipping. Cigar Rehab anyone?

Perhaps you’re interested in something more soothing and serene? The Silverfish Aquarium might just be the final frontier for watching your fish swim about… and the warmth and comfort that implicitly provides!

Have you given up on filling what your shrink calls the “hole in your soul” … well perhaps the $94,000 diamond-studded cell phone courtesy of Softbank and Tiffany is the answer to your loneliness and fear!

Following what THEY call contemporary trends, the Softbank Mobile, Japan, has announced a diamond-studded phone, finished jointly with renowned American jeweler Tiffany. The sparkling handset is jeweled with more than 400 diamonds totaling over 20 carats, which will be based on third-generation (3G) model and up for grabs for around $94,000. The hot luxury phone is a part of 15 new handsets lineup that will hit the market from February onwards. Oooohhh! Just in time for Valentine’s Day!

* * * * *

Next up … is your laptop … just not BLING enough? Check out the … Zeus enclose PCs in platinum, gold, diamond cases
Zeus Computers, Tokyo is out there with a line of luxury PCs enclosed in ornamented cases encrusted with precious metals and diamonds. It is not just an asset for celebs and well-off people, the hot luxury line of computers, including $760,000 pure platinum ‘Jupiter’ model and $570,000 solid gold ‘Mars’ model

I will close with a most outlandish choice … and I include it for a man who is near and dear to my heart! I present a giant triceratops skeleton … which will be auctioned off at Christie’s in Paris this spring.

It’s a giant triceratops skeleton and it is expected to sell for $736,000. This dinosaur has been immortalized in Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. A giant shark teeth and a sabre-toothed tiger skull will be also up for auction. The auction is scheduled for April 14. It’s the very first time in Christie’s history that such a dinosaur specimen goes up for public sale since a T-Rex called ‘Sue’ was sold in New York in October 1997.

The four-legged triceratops dates back between 65 and 67 million years, measures 7.5 meters (nearly 25-foot-long) in length and has a large bony frill and three horns. There are 150 items in total up for bids, including fossils, skeletons and minerals. A sabre-toothed tiger cranium is anticipated to fetch 45,000 Euros while a fossilized giant shark teeth from 23 to 5.3 million years ago is valued at 4,000 Euros. Other than that, a tyrannosaurus egg is expected to sell for between 20,000 and 25,000 Euros while an apatosaurus dinosaur tibia from the Jurassic Period has been valued at 30,000 Euros. What are you going to buy to impress your guests?

Go to www.bornrich.org to check it all out!

Rat out Your Neighbors Dot Com

Jason Parsley — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 06:31:00 +0000

Today on our Entrepreneur of the Month segment we will be looking at an enterprising man who’s banked on an age-old practice: gossiping about your neighbors. His new web site Rottenneighbor.com has become an instant success across the nation with 1 million hits each day.

Basically, as creator Brant Walker put it – his is a site that allows potential homebuyers and renters to see just what kind of neighbors they’d be getting if they moved in. All you have to do is type an address into the search bar on the home page. The location is then patched through in a Google Earth map and voila!! You can read stuff that’s been posted about the people in your neighborhood. Anyone can post anonymous comments, video and pictures about their neighbors. These show up on the map as either a green house – for good comments – or a bright red house – for bad neighbors.

Walker, a 27-year-old businessman from San Diego, got the idea for Rottenneighbor.com after a bad neighbor experience of his own. He and his girlfriend moved into a new apartment, and they soon noticed a rotten smelling coming from their neighbor’s place. Had they known what their neighbors were like, the couple wouldn’t have moved in. That’s when he thought…hmmm, “there should be some sort of service to let you know about your neighbors.”

Funded by investors and supported by Google advertising, Rottennighbor.com is developing additional features such as a social network where people can create a profile for free, add friends and send messages…a la Myspace.

But the real draw is the comments, which are often brutally honest and just plain funny. Here are a few of my favorites… “These are the dirtiest and most ignorant people I have ever met. Their house looks like a landfill," reads a post about a home in Kissimmee, Florida.

Another anonymous poster from New York has this to say about his neighbor in a home just off Parke Avenue: “Super rich Billionaire on the block has two or more Escalades parked illegally at all times making it impossible to park.” And finally a poster in Los Angeles who complains, "These people are snoopers. They snoop into other peoples yards as they walk there dog.”

Despite some biting posts, Walker says the Web site is providing an important service by helping people choose a place to live. Some, however, aren’t convinced. Critics say the posts could affect home values and invade people’s privacy. But Walker points out that he is legally protected by the Communications Decency Act of 1996. He’s also set up a system for removing “offensive” posts or comments that violate the terms and conditions of the site.

Despite the skeptics, Walker’s Rottennighbor.com has 1 million hits a day with people from New York, Los Angeles and Chicago among its most active users. He says there is even a reality television show in the works, based on the problems posted on the site.

Walker says the web site’s popularity is no coincidence. Even with the obvious pitfalls, he is confident that it’s helping potential buyers and renters and creating better neighbors since they can be held accountable for their actions.

After researching this piece…I was curious about what people were saying in my neighborhood. Were my neighbors saying anything about me? I decided to plug in my address and find out.

So far there are no posts in my neighborhood yet. Maybe I’ll be the first to comment. Go to rottenneighbor.com to see what people are saying about your neighbors!

Death or Vaccinations?

Jason Parsley — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:40:00 +0000

My managing editor, Rachael, travels out of the country a lot with her job. She went to a travel immunization company here in Boca Raton this week to get the shots she’d need to venture to some of the poorest countries on the globe – Ethiopia and Haiti.

Seven vaccinations, a whole lot of paperwork and two very sore arms later she called me with some striking news.

“You’ll never guess how many people don’t get shots that could save their lives!!!”

I suspected she was talking about the virtually non-existent immunization system in many developing countries whose people are, as a result, plagued by such preventable diseases as measles and typhoid. But, it turned out she was talking about the U.S.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to 5,000 Americans die every year from a disease that can be prevented by vaccination. There are 17 diseases that can be prevented through vaccinations, and several of these…including three fairly new ones licensed since 2005, are recommended specifically for the adult years. But the CDC’s recent National Immunization Survey shows that very low percentages of adults are actually getting these shots that prevent deadly disease.
What’s strange is that routine immunization of children in the U.S. is the norm. The long list of vaccines most children get in their early years has saved thousands of lives and prevented millions of cases of disease. The same could be the case with adults. But as Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, points out, “New data show there are not yet very many adults taking full advantage of the great advancements in prevention that have been made in the past few years.”

The CDC’s recent National Immunization Survey revealed some startling numbers. Only 2.1 percent of adults 18 to 64 are immunized against tetanus-diphtheria-whooping cough. Only 1.9 percent of people 60 and over got the vaccine to prevent shingles…, a disease of which there are more than 1 million new cases in the U.S each year. And vaccine coverage for the prevention of HPV, a three-series shot that prevents several kinds of cervical cancer among women 18 to 26, is about 10 percent. Even the highly publicized influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rates for older people are well below the 90 percent target rates.

Perhaps more jarring than these numbers are the results of another recent national survey done by the National Foundation of Infections Diseases. It showed most adults cannot name more than a couple of diseases in adults that can be prevented by a vaccine, only about 3 to 18 percent could do it. Also disturbing was that half of those surveyed said they are not concerned about whether they or another family member gets a vaccine-preventable disease. Respondents actually expressed the most concern about getting influenza. Doctors say this is because this is the vaccine-preventable disease people hear about the most.

So just what vaccines are adults supposed to get? The list is quite extensive: chickenpox, diphtheria, hepatitis A and B, human papillomavirus (the cervical cancer shot), influenza, measles, meningococcal disease, mumps, whooping cough, pneumococcal disease, rubella, shingles and tetanus.

It sounds like a lot but when you consider the alternative it’s hard to see why people don’t just get their shots. Combined, the infectious diseases I mentioned earlier kill MORE Americans annually than either breast cancer, HIV/AIDS or traffic accidents.

The Willpower Myth

Jason Parsley — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 19:00:00 +0000

January has traditionally been heralded as the month of new beginnings – a time when hundreds of thousands of people set out to change their lives for the better. “I’ll lose 10 pounds…quit smoking…eat better…go to the gym”…They all start with good intentions but by mid February end up falling horribly short.

If this has ever happened to you, you’ve probably found yourself thinking…as everyone else does...“Gee, if only I had tried a little bit harder. If only I had a little stronger willpower I could have done it.” Well, it turns out that this kind of thinking is dead wrong. When researchers examine the actual mechanism of change – they find something much different.

This is the hypothesis set out by Alan Deutschman, the author of the book "Change or Die: The Three Keys to Change at Work and in Life" which hit bookshelves this month. Deutschman set out to get to the bottom of whatever it is that makes people and business realize a drastic change, even in the face of multiple failures. What he found is that people don’t use willpower to “unstuck” themselves from a vice. Instead it’s a relationship with a person or a group who shows them the way – an emotional relationship – one that inspires hope and belief.

Deutschman was convinced that something besides willpower had to be the catalyst for change after hearing some startling statistics from a doctor from Johns Hopkins University while at a conference. Nine out of 10 heart bypass patients fail to make the lifestyle changes necessary to save their lives!! Though the pain was so terrible they could barely walk, his patients couldn’t stop smoking or eating steaks and they didn’t start going to the gym. Instead they endured multiple bypass surgeries — which are painful and cost more than $100,000. For these people, the mantra “Change or Die” was quite literally the case and most chose the latter.

So, if people dying from clogged arteries can’t be motivated to change their life, where does that leave the rest of us? Deutschman asked that same thing when he stumbled across a doctor in San Francisco. Dean Ornish was turning those numbers on their heads. Ornish had his patients, many of them steak-eating CEO’s, sticking to a low-fat vegetarian diet and doing regular yoga and meditation. Even after they completed his one-year program most of his patients stuck with their dramatic lifestyle changes.

Deutschman found that the key to these changes wasn’t willpower – it was relating. The first of something he calls the “Three R's to Transformation.” When these CEOs had to attend support groups and classes twice a week, they were surrounded by other steak-eating, work-a-holic CEOs who had changed their diet and their life. When they saw their peers could do it, they too were able to make changes and stick with them.

The second R in Deutschman’s road to successful change is repeating. Once you’ve formed a relationship with a mentor or a group you need to acquire the skills necessary to change and keep practicing, repeating them until they feel natural.

The final component to Deutschman’s three-step plan for change is reframing. Basically, changing the way you think. For example, if you’re a work-a-holic, you won’t be able to relax more until you accept that not working 70 hours a week doesn’t make you lazy or unproductive and that it actually will help you work better.

So why does all this work? Well, as Deutschman put it, “So often we think that change is impossible, that people don’t change, that we can’t change. But you can’t argue with a living breathing person in front of you who has done it, and modeling yourself on them is the best way to do the same.”

Yoga for the Face

Jason Parsley — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 05:05:00 +0000

For years yoga has been touted as a way to tone your body, calm your mind and improve your health. Now a handful of yogis from posh health clubs in places such as New York and Atlanta, claim it could take years off your face. Though doctors and some yoga instructors aren’t buying it, this new trend has swept up a lot of devotees.

At the front of this trend is Annelise Hagen … the Brooklyn-based yoga instructor behind “The Yoga Face." Her recently published book that explains her anti-aging regimen that promises to eliminate wrinkles and tone the muscles above the neck through – as described by the New York Post – a series of eye-popping, tongue-wagging, jaw-dropping moves.

Hagen, who’s taught yoga for more than 10 years and facial rejuvenation yoga for the last three, claims that if you start doing a few minutes of facial yoga a day, in six months you’ll have tighter, more refined skin. In a year’s time, you’ll look like you had a good face-lift. Want to sculpt and narrow your nose? Alternate breathing out of each nostril. Have crow's-feet? Open your eyes wide to smooth the lines. As pale as a glass of milk? A few downward dog poses can add color to the complexion while oxygenating the skin.

So how does this to-good-to-be-true aging solution and plastic surgery alternative work? Partly drawn from vocal training techniques used by actors, it combines facial exercises, body poses and breathing methods to detoxify the skin and lift the face naturally – without knives and needles. The aim is to tap into the 57 muscles in the face, neck and scalp and tone them.
Face yoga falls into a branch of yoga called Revita-Yoga…which basically combines yoga and facial exercises to combat wrinkles, frown lines and sagging. But like most exercises, it takes times to see the results of a face yoga workout. According to Hagen, about six classes and some homework will bring on serious results.

If this all sounds a little too good to be true – it may be because it isn’t. That’s according to doctors who specialize in skin or facial physiology. While they agree that it relaxes practitioners, they find it unlikely that it could rejuvenate the face. Some yoga gurus are skeptical, too. Rodney Yee, a well-known yoga instructor from East Hampton, New York, said ''We've not discovered the fountain of youth…Yoga will add radiance to your face and relax you, which will make you look younger, but to just focus on the face is too specific and sounds more like a marketing ploy.''

Despite the skepticism, hundreds of people are trying out the Three-Stooges-esq facial positions in hope of erasing frown lines and tightening their cheeks. Curious? Here are a few of the positions to try yourself.

For more information on Hagen’s book and face yoga check out her Web site…www.yogaface.net.

Technical Difficulties! What a Day!

Jason Parsley — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 18:59:00 +0000

So...what a day! Whew! I spent all night trying to upload KBTV's next piece and no matter what I tried it didn't work. Technology is such a blessing...and a curse! Especially when it doesn't work. Sometimes I've learned that you have to just let go, so I'm writing this to tell everyone I'm letting go...at least for today. My KBTVonline staff tell me everything should be up and running by Saturday! So please be patient!

Bill Gates Gives Farewell Keynote Speech!

Jason Parsley — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:12:00 +0000

Bill Gates delivered his last keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show on Sunday night as a full-time employee of what used to be the world's most influential technology company to date. I decided to attend, last minute.

Industry movers and shakers and journalists lined up for nearly two hours in advance to hear his message and listen with rapt attention. Gates wore a purple shirt and a lavender sweater. He delivered an impression that for me anyway is a very well worn path – a self-deprecating, likeable geek persona.

For me, it felt a little old – as I’ve been in this business for 15 years – but for others? Who knows? You see Gates steps down from day-to-day work at Microsoft later this year to concentrate on philanthropic work full-time.

Gates’ CES farewell address was 70 minutes – but he left nearly half of it to a subordinate to break the major news, a clear sign that the day when he and Microsoft were the same thing … well, it’s come to an end.

Robbie Bach, President of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division, announced some strategic new partnerships. For the hugely successful Xbox 360 gaming console, Bach announced TV programs from ABC Television and Disney Channel, along with movies from MGM's Legends collection of classic films, will join Xbox Live programs available for download directly from the console.

Gates himself broke the news that Microsoft's MSN Internet site will partner with NBC Univision in covering the Beijing Olympics next August, offering up to 20 simultaneous live video streams of events that can be watched on demand, over 3,000 hours of content in all. It will be the most prevalent use of broadband TV ever covering a major event. Hello. That’s news. Why didn’t they lead with that?

Just a quick note here on the whole Zune thing? A friend of mine who is a distribution guy tells me that there are TONS of Zunes on the market. Stay tuned!

Watch Out Perfectionists for New Year's Resolutions!

Jason Parsley — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 14:40:00 +0000

So...have you prepared your list of New Year’s Resolutions? Would you actually like me to share with you the success rate for these resolutions of hope, sobriety, wealth and skinniness? It’s low – really low – according to the likes of Dr. Phil and Oprah. Less than 10%.

Hey we all want to take off those last 10 pounds, quit smoking, join a gym, and be better friends and lovers. Many of us put way too much pressure on ourselves – myself included. And this is good. We should hold ourselves to a high standard – right? Well, how high is TOO high?

Several recent studies stand as a warning against taking the platitudes of achievement too seriously. The new research focuses on a familiar type – yes, perfectionists – who tip over or blow a fuse when things don’t turn out just so.

According to The New York Times, the findings not only confirm that these perfectionist types are often at risk for mental distress — as Freud, Alder and others have predicted — but also suggest that perfectionism is a valuable lens through which to understand a variety of seemingly unrelated mental difficulties, from depression to compulsive behavior to addiction.

According to the experts cited in The Times, perfectionists can be divided into three types. I believe I fall into the first category; self-oriented strivers who struggle to live up to their high standards and appear to be at risk of self-critical depression. That would be me! Next are the perfectionists who are outwardly focused zealots expecting perfection from others. Often they ruin relationships – we all know those types. Finally there are those desperate to live up to an ideal they’re convinced others expect of them. These perfectionists have a notable risk factor for suicidal thinking and eating disorders.

Unlike people who are given psychiatric labels such as manic-depressive, bi-polar, borderline personality disorder, etc., perfectionists neither battle the stigma of a label nor consider themselves to be dysfunctional. Alice Provost, an employee assistance counselor at the University of California, Davis recently ran group therapy sessions for staff members struggling with perfectionist impulses. To her surprise she said that the people in the sessions were actually proud of it. Proud of their perfectionism!

Provost also emphasizes that American culture puts such a high gloss on being perfect – exhibited by how we love to intermittently revere and demonize celebrities such as Brittney Spears. We gleefully watch the Brittney of Diet Pepsi fame soar to the most popular songstress ever to having a social worker accompany her on supervised visits with her children and go in and out of rehab. This whip-saw voyeurism made more popular by snarky blogs such as Gawker and the rack of old-fashioned tabloids like the National Enquirer. It all turns the heat up on a culture – our culture, American culture – creating a world of perfectionism run amok.

Consider a recent study by psychologists at the Curtin University of Technology. The researchers asked 252 participants to fill out questionnaires rating their level of agreement with 16 statements like “I think of myself as either in control or out of control” and “I either get on very well with people or not at all.”

The more strongly participants in the study thought in this either-or fashion, the more likely they were to display the kind of extreme perfectionism that can lead to mental health distress. The conclusion being that falling short somehow suggests a kind of mediocrity that increasing permeates how they view nearly EVERYTHING in their lives.

This is why Provost warns that perfectionists often display symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder, for instance, does your iPhone, blackberry and razor phone ALWAYS have to be fully charged? Mine do. Another risk for perfectionists? They simply cannot bear a messy desk. For me, it’s my whiteboard.

According to Provost it's nearly impossible to leave a job half-done, to do the next day. Some put in ludicrously long hours redoing tasks, chasing an ideal only they could see.

So … getting back to those New Year’s Resolutions, perhaps we should ask of ourselves the more internal or psychological or spiritual changes in ourselves in 2008. A list that begins with something as simple as spontaneity and living in the moment. Reaching out to someone less fortunate at least once a day. Making a conscious effort to not tell white lies. Taking personal responsibility and apologizing when we’re wrong. Being more authentic in our relationships or just simply living a more honest life. Yes, an authentic, transparent, AUTHENTIC life.

Christmas Miracles! Nicole's Story ...

Jason Parsley — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 12:06:00 +0000

In my last blog I shared the story of Maggie Schoenfeld, a 9-year-old from Boynton Beach, Florida, who has an aggressive case of Leukemia. Though she has many long days before her as she prepares for a bone marrow transplant she’s not facing it alone. Hundreds of people from her hometown have come together to show their support. The local police station where her dad works has raised more than $30,000 for the family through fundraisers where they’ve shaved their heads, served food and even posed for a pinup calendar. Even complete strangers have been compelled to help Maggie, attending fundraisers and sending cards.

But today's story is about Nicole Bennet – another Christmas miracle. It all began at a recent fundraiser held for Maggie at Panera Bread. It was here that Nicole Bennet and her mother Brenda, who didn’t even know Maggie but came to show their support after they heard her story, got some help of their own.

Just three days after her 16th birthday, Nicole was in a terrible car accident. That was five years ago, but her mom Brenda always remembers it as they day her daughter died. After paramedics pulled Nicole from the wreckage of her little convertible they struggled to resuscitate her.

Two motorcycle cops brought Brenda to her daughter’s side at the hospital. She remembers the stitches that stretched up and down the left side of her daughter’s face. The accident had severely damaged Nicole’s brain. Doctors told her that she’d be a vegetable for the rest of her life if she even made it through the night. She made it.

Nicole spent four weeks in the hospital’s trauma unit. There was no expression on her face. No life. She suffered complete memory loss. She didn’t speak for six months. But her mother never stopped hoping…never stopped working with her to make her better.

Now five years later, Nicole, 21, is surpassing all of her doctors’ expectations and defying science as she continues to remember and improve. She’s been back to high school and she now works as Panera Bread – her first real paying job since the accident.

I asked Nicole’s Mom Brenda about the progress of her recovery. Is it leaps and bounds? Incremental?Baby steps? She told me the good news is that Nicole has yet to hit a plateau.

So is it coincidence or faith that Nicole went to Maggie’s fundraiser at Panera?

I’ve always believed that deep down everyone wants to do something to help someone else…to make an impact on the world that’s larger than themselves. I think that feeling kicks into overdrive during the holiday season as you hear dozens of stories about people reaching out to help those in need. Maybe that’s because, like the bright holiday lights that dot the nation this time of year symbolizing hope and life in the dead of winter, everyone wants to believe in miracles. When you have enough faith… the unexpected can happen.

Christmas Miracles! Maggie's Story ...

Jason Parsley — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 04:50:00 +0000

I’ve always believed that deep down everyone wants to do something to help someone else to make an impact on the world that’s larger than themselves. I think that feeling kicks into overdrive during the holiday season as you hear dozens of stories about people reaching out to help those in need. Maybe that’s because, like the bright holiday lights that dot the nation this time of year symbolizing hope and life in the dead of winter, everyone wants to believe in miracles. When you have enough faith the unexpected can happen.

For Christmas week I'll be sharing the stories of two girls, 9-year-old Maggie Schoenfeld and a 21-year-old Nicole Bennet. Both are facing crushing personal circumstances, yet through it all, finding something that every looks for, especially this time of year: HOPE. These stories are about tears and triumph, pain and love, heartache and healing and most of all FAITH. Though these girls barely know each other, their stories are intertwined and they both begin – as all miracles do – with a haunting challenge.

Anyone who knows Maggie Schoenfeld will tell you that she’s a “feisty girl” with a personality to match her bright smile. When doctors told her parents that the 9-year-old had an aggressive case of leukemia their worlds turned upside down. What followed in the months after her diagnosis were long trips to Miami Children’s Hospital, dozens of chemotherapy treatments and hours of waiting and praying for Maggie to get better.

Tests revealed that Maggie had 440,000 white blood cells in her body, which, doctors said, is virtually unheard of. A normal count is between 5,000 and 10,000.

The prognosis was unclear and the treatment long but the family pulled together to take things day by day. Maggie’s next big challenge is a bone marrow transplant from her brother scheduled early next year. In their pain, however, the Schoenfelds have found overwhelming support as hundreds of their neighbors in Boynton Beach, many whom don’t even know the Schoenfelds, have rallied around Maggie. They’ve raised thousands of dollars, donated blood and been there to talk when the family needed it most.

Since Maggie was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia in September, the Boynton Beach Police Department has collected more than $30,000 for the family through fundraisers where they’ve shaved their heads, served food and even posed for a pinup calendar.

Employees at Bethesda Memorial Hospital in Boynton Beach, where Maggie's mother works as a neonatal nurse, have chipped in more than 400 vacation hours so she could be at her daughter's side.

The community has gotten involved, too. During a fundraiser a few weeks ago, Panera Bread in Boynton Beach donated half of its sales for the day to Maggie. About 2,000 people stopped by during the daylong event that featured music, baking classes, a car show and Maggie, who was well enough to make an appearance.

It was during this event at Panera Bread where 21-year-old Nicole Bennet and her mother Brenda met Maggie. The two decided to sign up for baking classes during the event that would help raise money for Maggie. They didn’t know it at the time, but their act of reaching out to help Maggie would in turn help Nicole, who suffered serious brain injuries after a car accident just days after her 16th birthday.

Maggie still has many long days ahead. After her bone marrow transplant she’ll have to fight the risk of infection or the slight chance that her body rejects her brother’s cells or that the cancer comes back, but she won’t be facing it alone. And for the family, the quiet shock has become a deafening roar of support.

To learn more about how to help Maggie…whether it’s sending her a card or attending a fundraiser…contact Stephanie Slater with the Boynton Beach Police Department…at 561-742-6191.

How to Help
Send donations to: Stephanie Slater, Boynton Beach Police Department, 100 E. Boynton Beach Blvd., Boynton Beach, FL 33435.

Make checks payable to Margaret Alyson Schoenfeld.

Write to Maggie: Go to carepages.com and click on "visit." Create an account, search "maggieschoenfeld" to pull up her page and leave a message.

The Big One!

Jason Parsley — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 18:59:00 +0000

On Monday, I mentioned that I had quickly learned that there is at least one common denominator when it comes to avid fishermen "EVERYONE HAS A FISHING STORY." And when a gang of Anglers gets together each fish is bigger than the next.

I also mentioned that now, I, too, have a fishing story … and it’s called Beginner’s Luck.

OK. It all began just before 8 a.m. We pushed off the dock and headed down the intracoastal to the Hillsboro Inlet out to the ocean. All said – about two miles.

Before we pushed off I happened to ask Captain Eddie, Captain Mike’s partner if we were going to catch anything that day:

So, now we’re drifting, the sun is shining, the guys had set up the rods with goggle eyes and released the kites to keep the bait on the ocean’s surface – the anticipation began to build.

Because I had never fished before, I didn’t understand why the guys on the boat were so quiet and seemed so uptight. I thought fishing was supposed to be fun.

Then I noticed the intensity of Captain Mike’s gaze on the horizon, he, Steve, Captain Eddie and the rest were peering at the movement of the water in the distance looking for – what I realize now – would be the catch of the day.

Suddenly, Captain Mike hollered out: “Katie … your rod’s got some action.” I scampered to the bow of the boat and he handed me my rod. Indeed there was something biting my goggle eye on the other end. His direction was as follows: “Start reeling. When the fish is fighting hard – let him fight. When he stops fighting – start reeling. And so on."

Little did I know, I was in for the fight of my life. I am in pretty good shape so I was okay with the reeling part. It was where to put the butt of the rod that gave me trouble. I started to lose spots on my gut – ouch – that’s painful, finally I sat down and anchored the rod between my legs against the seat.

After about five minutes we saw the fish jumping out of the water into the air – about 50 yards off the boat. The guys started to whoop and cheer.

Then I saw him. My fish was 10 yards away leaping in and out of the water. Captain Mike put on his glove, leaned over the side of the boat, grabbed my fish by the nose and began to pull him out of the water. My fish was fighting hard. He wasn’t having it. Finally, he slipped back into the water and fought over to the other side of the boat where Captain Eddie snagged him and pulled him up on deck.

I couldn’t believe how big this sailfish was. I heard Steve yell "wow … six feet!" Then suddenly my sailfish was in my arms. A few seconds later his tail fanned out and smacked me right in the face!

I had never understood how grown men could sit around a table for hours taking turns talking about this one moment. Now I do.

Pulling Fish in Pompano Beach

Jason Parsley — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:18:00 +0000

Ok this series, let’s just say it turned out vastly different than I even I expected.

It all began innocently – the location? A low-key diner in Hillsboro Beach Florida, where the cash register has no LED display and the waitresses still wear sensible shoes, and reeks of the now cult-classic hair spray – Final Net.

Two of my wonderful friends, Steve and Laura Kennedy were encouraging me once again – Steve would intermittently suggest – “Hey, Katie – we gotta get you on the boat.” That meant fishing, I had never fished before. And – I feel a little guilty now – but I’d always thought: YUK. Fishing. Too hot, too slow, too smelly – yep – too stinky.

Camera pans forward about five months. I don’t know, I’m standing on a rickety-drift-wood-barnacle-ensconced dock in Pompano Beach, Florida about a half mile from my house and I’m talking to Captain Mike. The Captain Mike. He owns and operates a charter boat called The Sweet Emily. He’s mid-thirties, blond, blue eyed, kind of freckly and fun. But more than anything – trustworthy.

The two of us? We didn’t even haggle. After 20 minutes of Captain Mike explaining to me, and me pretending that I understood … we settled on a price and a date: December 13, 2007. Thursday morning. I would arrive at 7 a.m. with my crew; we’d be pulling out by 7:30. Game on. Fishing on?

Art Basel Miami Beach: Where weird becomes normal!

Jason Parsley — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 02:03:00 +0000

The sixth edition of Art Basel Miami Beach has ended. It is the largest, craziest art bazaar in the world -- five days and four nights of hundreds of galleries selling thousands of artists to an insatiable herd of 43,000 of the trendiest, “coolest” people on Earth! Many of them were swathed in black enveloping wraps with silk linings of funky loud purples, pinks and fuchsias!

It was big, it was bold and it was everywhere. Think Andy Warhol meets the space shuttle?
Art Basel Miami Beach, the largest contemporary art show in the world closed on Sunday with a record number of visitors from every continent plus 1,600.

We, here at KBTVonline, road tripped down to the Miami Convention Center on Saturday. But like many thousands of the other guests we were drawn to the surrounding cultural exhibitions and events – known as the satellite shows or the Sati Scene. But that’s a whole other story, or episode, so to speak. Check out my blog over the weekend to find out what we uncovered – off the beaten path.

All that said, at the Convention Center, celebrated artists and leading art-world personalities participated in programs. More than 100 museums from the US, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The 200 galleries from 30 countries exhibited works by more than 2,000 artists.

Curiously I overheard an art dealer who had an interesting insight into desperate plight of the US dollar at the moment. She said she’s pricing all of her art work in Euros because she has “taken a bath” on the US dollar – currently trading at about $1.45 to the Euro.

At the Miami Beach Convention Center, where the proper show was installed meaning the works that had been shipped here from the city of Basel in Switzerland, everything was extremely uptight.

I can sum it up with a visual. One exhausted art dealer perched on the lap of a well-known gallery owner whom I know well but who asked not to be named. They were both perched on the hood of a silver bullet-proof Mercedes SUV … and this is what I heard: "He's got some big walls."

A guy called Earth Man was walking around the fair in a space suit breathing through a hose connected to a potted plant. There was a girl in a dress made of clothespins.

Speaking of, let me share our favorite pieces – or installations … or … ? A mobile of giant lava rocks by Robert Chambers for $30,000. A "400% cotton" hand-dyed T-shirt, titled "Pimp," by Dutch artist HuskMitNavn, for $60. Dammit … I missed it … are they selling on eBay? And finally there's Ralph Provisero's "Earthramp," two yards of pounded Everglades topsoil, and it's not even for sale. It will just . . . compost.

Don’t forget to watch are show tonight: “Art Basel Miami Beach." We’ll take you down to South Beach to the back courtyard of the Aqua Hotel on Collins Avenue where the real action was taking place – off campus. Just like at a university!

Can't Wake Up? Try a Puzzle!

Jason Parsley — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 04:16:00 +0000

Over the past year, I have come to believe that Americans are obsessed with the whole process of WAKING UP. The method and style of alarm clock issue … well, let me start at the beginning.

Back in May of this year, I broadcast a story on an innovative but really annoying alarm clock called Clocky! If you didn’t see my piece – it’s a clock that looks like a giant dog bone – and when you hit the snooze button it jumps from your night-stand and rolls around your room, making funny/cute sounds along the way. It’s kind of like a skittish cat because you have to search for it all around the room in order to turn it off.

One of my viewers wrote that she bought it after watching the piece and after a week was set to either throw it out the window or put it up on eBay.

After a barrage of emails the following week – one of my gadget sources told me about the Glo Pillow. I reported this story in May … six moths later the Glo Pillow was named one of Time Magazine’s gadgets of the year! Anyway, the Glo Pillow provides the comforts of a regular pillow but also features a built-in soft LED light that gently awakens the oh-so-sensitive sleeper by slowly increasing its brightness over 40 minutes … mimicking a perfect sunrise in the Caribbean. Apparently using the light rather than sound to wake encourages the body to establish a healthy sleep rhythm and makes the day more productive and stress free. The pillow is charged by induction and is wireless, which allows it to move freely about the bed. The ethos of this gadget? Think gentle, soothing – calming.

Three adjectives that would not describe the gadget in my report today! Bim Bam Banana s Puzzle Alarm Clock wakes you up by firing four puzzle pieces up in the air and then honks incessantly until those four pieces are put back into place – on top of the clock. Yes, you must complete a jigsaw puzzle to deactivate the alarm. No cord to cut, since its battery operated.

After pondering to what great lengths people will go … to actually wake up and get out of bed? I decided to survey a group of friends enjoying dinner at a local Italian restaurant down here in Boca Raton called Mario’s and listen to what they had to say about what gets THEM out of bed. Watch Tuesday for the whole story and our man-on-the-street interviews.

I myself – I wake up to my blackberry which I put in my bed somewhere under the covers – so when it goes off – I have to kind of dig around and find it. It works for me, but then again I sleep alone.

If you’re interested in purchasing the Puzzle Alarm Clock, you’ll pay $52 for the privilege of waking up to that kind of chaos!

Unhappy? Self-Critical? Maybe You’re Just a Perfectionist

Jason Parsley — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 04:55:00 +0000

I was searching the internet the other day and came across a fabulous article that goes a long with an upcoming KBTV episode. I'm copying the entire thing below because I just had to share it with my readers. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!

Unhappy? Self-Critical? Maybe You’re Just a Perfectionist

By BENEDICT CAREY

Just about any sports movie, airport paperback or motivational tape delivers a few boilerplate rules for success. Believe in yourself. Don’t take no for an answer. Never quit. Don’t accept second best.

Above all, be true to yourself.

It’s hard to argue with those maxims. They seem self-evident — if not written into the Constitution, then at least part of the cultural water supply that irrigates everything from halftime speeches to corporate lectures to SAT coaching classes.

Yet several recent studies stand as a warning against taking the platitudes of achievement too seriously. The new research focuses on a familiar type, perfectionists, who panic or blow a fuse when things don’t turn out just so. The findings not only confirm that such purists are often at risk for mental distress — as Freud, Alfred Adler and countless exasperated parents have long predicted — but also suggest that perfectionism is a valuable lens through which to understand a variety of seemingly unrelated mental difficulties, from depression to compulsive behavior to addiction.

Some researchers divide perfectionists into three types, based on answers to standardized questionnaires: Self-oriented strivers who struggle to live up to their high standards and appear to be at risk of self-critical depression; outwardly focused zealots who expect perfection from others, often ruining relationships; and those desperate to live up to an ideal they’re convinced others expect of them, a risk factor for suicidal thinking and eating disorders.

“It’s natural for people to want to be perfect in a few things, say in their job — being a good editor or surgeon depends on not making mistakes,” said Gordon L. Flett, a psychology professor at York University and an author of many of the studies. “It’s when it generalizes to other areas of life, home life, appearance, hobbies, that you begin to see real problems.”

Unlike people given psychiatric labels, however, perfectionists neither battle stigma nor consider themselves to be somehow dysfunctional. On the contrary, said Alice Provost, an employee assistance counselor at the University of California, Davis, who recently ran group therapy for staff members struggling with perfectionist impulses. “They’re very proud of it,” she said. “And the culture highly values and reinforces their attitudes.”

Consider a recent study by psychologists at Curtin University of Technology in Australia, who found that the level of “all or nothing” thinking predicted how well perfectionists navigated their lives. The researchers had 252 participants fill out questionnaires rating their level of agreement with 16 statements like “I think of myself as either in control or out of control” and “I either get on very well with people or not at all.”

The more strongly participants in the study thought in this either-or fashion, the more likely they were to display the kind of extreme perfectionism that can lead to mental health problems.

In short, these are people who not only swallow many of the maxims for success but take them as absolutes. At some level they know that it’s possible to succeed after falling short (build on your mistakes: another boilerplate rule). The trouble is that falling short still reeks of mediocrity; for them, to say otherwise is to spin the result.

Never accept second best. Always be true to yourself.

The burden of perfectionist expectations is all too familiar to anyone who has struggled to kick a bad habit. Break down just once — have one smoke, one single drink — and at best it’s a “slip.” At worst it’s a relapse, and more often it’s a fall off the wagon: failure. And if you’ve already fallen, well, may as well pour yourself two or three more.

This is why experts have long debated the wisdom of insisting on abstinence as necessary in treating substance abuse. Most rehab clinics are based on this principle: Either you’re clean or you’re not; there’s no safe level of use. This approach has unquestionably worked for millions of addicts, but if the studies of perfectionists are any guide it has undermined the efforts of many others.

Ms. Provost said those in her program at U.C. Davis often displayed symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder — another risk for perfectionists. They couldn’t bear a messy desk. They found it nearly impossible to leave a job half-done, to do the next day. Some put in ludicrously long hours redoing tasks, chasing an ideal only they could see.

As an experiment, Ms. Provost had members of the group slack off on purpose, against their every instinct. “This was mostly in the context of work,” she said, “and they seem like small things, because what some of them considered failure was what most people would consider no big deal.”

Leave work on time. Don’t arrive early. Take all the breaks allowed. Leave the desk a mess. Allow yourself a set number of tries to finish a job; then turn in what you have.

“And then ask: Did you get punished? Did the university continue to function? Are you happier?” Ms. Provost said. “They were surprised that yes, everything continued to function, and the things they were so worried about weren’t that crucial.”

The British have a saying that encourages people to show their skills while mocking the universal fear of failure: Do your worst.

If you can’t tolerate your worst, at least once in a while, how true to yourself can you be?

Behind the Scences of the Production of "Maestros and Marauders in Marathon (Key!), Florida" Part 1

Jason Parsley — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:30:00 +0000

Have you ever thought about how a script is written and what it looks like? Well here's your chance to take a sneak peak in to the production of an episode of the Watercooler Diaries!

[KATE ON CAM] Hi. I'm Kate Bohner for the "WatercoolerDiaries"on KBTVonline. Thanks for joining our Florida in Focus series as we peek in on a sprawling, sleepy, sea-faring town that marks the midpoint of the archipelago at Florida's southern tip known as The Keys.

Marathon ... it's a Mecca for laid-back vacationers seeking an authentic honky-tonk adventure filled with quaint motels as colorful as the fish that fill the ubiquitous waters surrounding the loosely knit chain of islands that make up this tropical paradise.

[KATE OFF CAM/ON VOICE OVER][BROLL AND KATE VO WITH MONTAGE OF KEY'S PICS PLUS A COOL MAP MADE BY KIRST] Our journey began at 6:30 a.m. when the KBTV team set off for the Florida Keys. No, we weren't hitting Key West [K GRAPHIC OF CRZY DRUNKEN REVELERS ON DATURA STREET] (KATE PAUSE)...We wanted something a little more relaxing, so we settled on a destination nestled in the middle keys.

As the Turnpike narrowed to a two-lane road at US1 the air got lighter, the light got brighter and the road-side marinas became to tempting not to get out and stretch our legs. Of course, with the ulterior motive of a photo op. [RUN PICS AT OUR FIRST STOP. BARRY SEE KBTVONLINE@GMAIL.COM FILE WITH SAME HEADINGTK].

[KATE STILL V/O] … Forty-five minutes latter we hit our destination...the Sea Dell Motel. Although the place was newly remodeled...with brand new refrigerators, microwaves and high speed wireless Internet access....the exterior harkened back to a simpler time...that of station wagons packed with children, dogs, inflatable rafts and soda pop-filled coolers.

[KIRST GRAPHIX OF OLD-TIME VACATIONERS AND PICS AND VIDEO OF THE SEA DELL]

My expectations for the stretch of road between Miami and Key West were pretty low. We're talking cheesy T-shirt shops, 10-foot plastic mermaids and rusted beer cans dotting the shoulder of US1. What we found, however, was an entirely different scene.

[KATE STAND UP ON SOMBRERO BEACH] Marathon, situated mainly on Vaca, Fat Deer and Grassy Keys, is a 10-mile-long island city at the midpoint of the Florida Keys island chain. Locals call their home "the heart of the Keys" for geographic reasons, but also to reflect the old-Keys lifestyle they enjoy among the spectacular fishing diving snorkeling and sailing. This quaint tropical key has spruced itself up with new parks, the impeccably maintained Sombrero Beach, and a newly renovated airport – the largest in the Keys! These improvements were made with careful thought toward maintaining the simple, sea-faring tradition that gives Marathon its character.

Fresh fish is the local fare and dozens of ramshackle marine-style restaurants pepper both coasts on either side of Route 1. A favorite local spot [RUN PHOTO OF FISHER GUYS AT BAR] is Keys Fisheries, Market and Marina. [PHOTO MONTAGE OF THE PLACE] Tucked away at the end of 35th street on the Gulf side, this little full-service fish market turns out to be more than just a grab-and-go joint. Instead, picnic tables topped with giant rolls of paper towels, old bay seasoning and hot sauce line the dock. There's a full bar, raised two stories above the place...giving you a panoramic view of the gulf. And the food...simple and spectacular...fresh filet of blackened grouper on a bun with homemade spicy tartar sauce....coconut-batter-fried shrimp with a mango salsa....and a tangy Caesar salad.

We decided to take in some of the local art we'd seen around town. And that's when we met Rocky Farris one of the 28 artists whose work is featured at the Bougainvillea House Art Gallery....this cooperative … which captured an almost ‘60s-ish feel … is owned and operated by the artists.

[BITE OF ROCKY SAYING SOMETHING NOT SNIPPY]

[KATE ON CAM] After the interview I walked out with one of Rocky’s photo-surrealist prints – one of 10 – featuring a blow fish morphing into a coconut. [RUN FAUX KATE WITH PAINTING PIC TK] Then Rachael...always the consummate producer...reminded us we had a plane to catch.

[BROLL OF PLANES AND THE AIRFIELD WITH KATE VO] We buzzed out to Marathon's private airport to meet the Sea Dell Motel owner, Harry Caplan, a former real estate developer, salesman and current pilot and self-described "commercial-handy-man."

After a few pre-flight checks and a refuel [PHOTO OF KATE PUMPING GAS] his INSERT PLANE NAME HERE was ready to go. [BROLL OF PLANE TAKE OFF] Soon Rachael and I were gazing at Marathon and the middle keys from thousands of feet up. The view was amazing. The different keys looked like emeralds dotting a sea of turquoise. [PICS TAKEN FROM PLANE]

Once our 20 minutes of perfect panoramic views had come to a somewhat screechy close (KATE DISPLAYS MOCK SURPRISE ON CAM), we headed back to the Sea Dell for a chat with Harry about how someone who helped develop $2 billion dollars in real-estate projects ended up owning a motel in a sleepy little place like Marathon.

[BITE FROM HARRY]

… [KATE COMES OUT OF THE BITE WITH A SMIRK … AND KATE ON CAM] … Harry Caplan? He was just a smidgeon of the “local culture.”

[KATE ON CAM] Tune in next time for the second installment of our trip to the middle keys. Watch as Kate…quite literally…rubs elbows with a couple of dolphins…both descendents of the dolphin TV icon Flipper. [MAYBE TEASE WITH A FEW SEC OF FOOTAGE FROM THE FLIP CAM OF K AND KRIS GETTING READY TO GO. Thanks for joining Part 1 of our Florida in Focus … "Maestros and Marauders in Marathon (Key!) … I’m Kate Bohner for the WatercoolerDiaries on KBTVonline.

And as a bonus we've included pictures!

No Fuss Meals

Jason Parsley — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 06:00:00 +0000

Today we begin our Entrepreneur of the Month series. These two-part tales of inspired visionaries typically feature an individual. My initial intent was to profile a woman, Caryl Ginsburg Fantel, who has her finger on the pulse and solution for every mom and dad, woman-on-the-go or scattered bachelor seeking an easy, quick way to prepare fresh, hot home-cooked meals.

Perfect, I thought. I’ll air it during the insanity-filled holiday season when everyone is too busy to chop and shop and no one is eating right. Well, long story short, I found not just the woman but an extended family of entrepreneurs. Three generations to be exact all led by patriarch Art Ginsburg – better known as Mr. Food – the jolly kitchen sweetheart and nationally syndicated television host, popular food personality and cook book author. For decades now he has dispensed lessons on how to whip up New York pushcart onion sauce and perfect puff-topped fish fillets.

Ginsburg agreed to meet me the day after Thanksgiving at one of his stores here in Davie, Florida. What I found spectacular about him was his authenticity. Sure he hams it up a bit … continually sneaking into the conversation his signature phrase … “OOOOOHHHH IT’S SO GOOD!” But I believe the reason his business model works so well is that it is a reflection on who HE really is and in what he truly believes. It’s the simple concept of teaching people to prepare convenient meals that anybody can do.

And that ethos he describes so well about life translates into Ginsburg’s business model – it has worked every time. Over the past two-decades, Ginsburg Enterprises annual revenues which initially were derived from 90-second television cooking spots and cook book royalties has grown from about $830,000 to more than $15 million in 2006. His latest endeavor that began three years ago is a franchise concept called Mr. Food, No-Fuss Meals.

No-Fuss Meals is simply an extension of Ginsburg’s on air trademark: convenient meals that anyone can prepare. Customers assemble their own no-fuss meals at stores using pre-prepared ingredients guided by easy to follow printed directions. Intrigued?

Well, tune in on Tuesday for the second installment of our two-part Entrepreneur of the Month Series and join me for a little Reality KBTV, I'll be on location at the Mr. Food No Fuss Meals Franchise in Davie as I prepare 5 days of dinners.

See pictures!

“Tow-To-Go”

Jason Parsley — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 05:02:00 +0000

This holiday season tow trucks throughout the southeast will be transporting a different type of cargo…merry-making revelers who think they are too drunk to drive. It’s all part of a program co-sponsored by AAA Auto Club South and beer maker Anheuser-Busch. One that’s kept thousand of drunk drivers off the roads during days like Cinco de Mayo and Halloween.

“Tow-To-Go” is a program run through AAA. Trucks contracted by the company respond to callers who have had too much to drink and take them and their cars home – free of charge. This service, which operates on holidays with high rates of drunken-driving accidents such as Super Bowl weekend and St. Patrick’s Day and from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve, is open to anyone. You don’t have to be a member. All you do is dial 1-800-AAA-HELP and the tow truck with pick you up. The whole thing is completely confidential.

The program will be celebrating its tenth anniversary next year. Since its inception in 1998, the program has helped keep nearly 7,000 potential drunken drivers off the roads, which the folks at AAA say is saving lives. Alcohol is a factor in almost half of all traffic fatalities, and each year about 16,000 people are killed in alcohol related crashes.

Joanna Newton, who heads up Public and Government Affairs at AAA, says the “Tow-to-go” program continues to grow. It now encompasses all of Florida as well as Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia; Nashville, Tennessee; and during the holiday season, Knoxville, Tennessee. Despite the success, she wants to remind drivers that this service is meant as a last resort. Before you start drinking come up with a plan to get home.

A final piece of interesting information I came across while doing this piece: People think that New Years Eve is the WORST day for drunk driving accidents, but I came to learn that it’s actually a distant second to Thanksgiving. AAA’s hypothesis is that since Thanksgiving is a family holiday people feel they need to drink more to have fun with their family!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jason Parsley — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 00:04:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I decided to stay local and help out my friends Steve and Laura Kennedy with a buffet-style all-afternoon event at the Lion’s Club in Boca Raton, FL. I have enclosed some pictures for your perusal!

I hope it was a great day for everyone. I certainly have a lot to be thankful for!