August 23 - September 22
Symbol: Virgin
Element: Earth

You like…
Paying attention to detail, solving difficult problems, making lists, taking calculated risks and getting the job done on time. You also like exercising and being left alone to read or do a crossword puzzle.

You dislike…
Lazy people, pointless conversations, friends who can’t make up their minds about what movie to see and any sort of chaos.

(more…)

September 4, 2008

Tyrobot ruled and we got our first look at the competitors. Meet the girls of Cycle 11.

Lauren Brie, 20, Charlottesville, VA
The most interesting thing about her is that her father is the Chief of Police for her podunk hometown. 

Analeigh, 19, Sacramento, CA
A former competitive figure skater who tells a crazy story about being approached by a fake modeling agency recruiter who attempts to sell her as a bride to a Saudi prince!

Clark, 19, Pawleys Island, SC
A perfectionist who thinks she’s the prettiest girl in the competition (she’s not). 

Marjorie, 19, San Francisco, CA 
A goofy, awkward, nervous wannabe model who moved to SF from France when she was nine.  

Isis, 22, Prince George’s County, MD
This cycle’s shock contestant is the first transgender model on the show. And pre-op, no less. Her biological sex doesn’t make her unattractive - it’s the ugly-pretty face Tyra’s always talking about that makes great photos. This girly-boy is gonna kick pretty little booties all over the catwalk.

Sheena, 21 from Harlem, NY 
A ghetto fabulous Asian chick with shades of Kimora.

Brittany R., 19, Henderson, NV
A biracial girl (African American mother, Native American father) who wants to show the Greater Las Vegas area that African Americans can be cover girls.  

Hannah, 18, Fairbanks, AK
A naïve young thing from the land Sarah Palin who won’t let us forget she lives in the sticks.

Joslyn, 23, Lucky, LA
A Southern gal who auditioned for ANTM over 30 times!

Elina, 18, Seattle, WA
A dark, brooding, vegan omnisexual with a developing crush on fellow contestant Clark; wants to use modeling as a platform for her own personal activism agenda.

Nikeysha, 19, The Bronx, NY
An overly enthusiastic contestant who flashed the judges and tossed them her gel bra inserts.

Brittany S., 19, Lake Forest, IL
Renamed McKey to reduce confusion with Brittany R,  this redhead practices mixed martial arts with her cage fighter boyfriend.

Samantha, 18, Woodland Hills, CA
A young, tanned, athletic Socal girl who wants to represent health and fitness in her modeling career.

Though “Top Model” has gone from a low-budget reality show to CW tent-pole programming, it remains basically a drama about a group of women living together in close quarters and the photos they produce. Bring it on!

September 3, 2008

The United States Tennis Association is now offering Klum’s butterfly-inspired tee along with other U.S. Open-branded apparel and related merchandise in NYC. US Open SoHo is a pop-up store to give fans who cannot attend the Grand Slam event a chance to purchase the exclusive merchandise. Also available is a U.S. Open Breakpoint DVD board game, a vintage Tad Davis clothing line and co-branded U.S. Open products by Under Armour.

Besides the Soho store, exclusive U.S. Open merchandise is also available at Saks Fifth Avenue, Ralph Lauren, airport kiosks and Madison Square Park.

September 2, 2008

Wheaties, known as the “Breakfast of Champions,” will give Liukin her own special edition Wheaties boxes, General Mills Inc. announced Thursday.

Liukin, who is from Parker, Texas, won five medals in the Beijing Olympics, including helping the U.S. win silver in the team competition.

The special-edition boxes will be sold starting in September.

Not every Olympian is jumping on the Wheaties bandwagon however. Swimmer Michael Phelps, who stole the spotlight after winning a record number of Olympic medals, signed with Kellog’s, who will print pictures of Phelps on boxes of its Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes cereals.

September 1, 2008

For the first time in a long while, the top spot in the tennis world is within reach of more women players than ever. Of course, the stunning upset of the top seed Ana Ivanovic earlier this week has something to do with it, and there is even one strange scenario in which she could still end up holding on to her top ranking after the U.S. Open.

Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic lead the fab four-woman assault on the world number one ranking, a fight that could come down to Saturday night’s Grand Slam title showdown.

Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva, each hoping to become the second Russian woman to take the top spot after Maria Sharapova’s groundbreaking run in 2005, are also in the hunt to replace already ousted Serbian Ana Ivanovic at the top.

U.S. fourth seed Williams, who dropped the Wimbledon final to sister Venus in July, and Serbian second seed Jankovic, who held the top spot for a week last month, can each take over as number one by advancing to the semi-finals.

Safina, the youngest in the hunt at 22, or Dementieva would need to reach Saturday’s final to unseat Ivanovic but either could face a championship showdown for the top spot.

Eight-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams, however, will have to face her sister Venus in an all-Williams quarter-final for the chance to grab the top spot and that challenge has never been easy for her.

If Serena faces Jankovic or Dementieva in the final, the match would decide which would take over the top ranking.

Safina, who meets German qualifier Anna-Lena Groenefeld on Monday, would need to win the crown and have Jankovic not to reach the final to be number one. A title would make Dementieva number one no matter how anyone else fares.

For Jankovic, bouncing back from an injury-hampered season and having a chance at her first Grand Slam crown are top priorities she counts upon to push her to the top.

If this all isn’t confusing enough there is one scenario where Ana Ivanovic, amazingly enough, could still remain number one. If Jankovic and Serena lose in the quarters, and Dementieva and Safina lose before the final day, poof…a miracle for Ivanovic!

With so many great players vying for top spot,  watching these women battle it out will be almost as dramatic as tonight’s season opener of “Gossip Girl”.  The level of intensity should increase as will the quality of the matches. Bring it on, ladies!

Fans began lining up at 6 a.m. Saturday for a chance to snag free tickets to show’s season premiere featuring 150 U.S. Olympic athletes.

By noon, the line of Winfrey fans and U.S. Olympic supporters stretched nearly six city blocks in Chicago’s Millennium Park. The show will air Sept. 8 and include appearances by gold medalists Nastia Liukin, Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh, Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker and members of the gold medal Women’s Basketball Team, cyclist Kristin Armstrong and fencer Mariel Zagunis. Also, silver medalist Jennie Finch & members of the Women’s Olympic Softball Team, the silver medal Women’s Water Polo Team, and more.

Tickets for the Winfrey’s tapings are usually available only by phone and nearly impossible to get, so fans were itching for the 2,000 seats up for grabs for Wednesday’s taping.

Winfrey’s Harpo Productions said the show is a “welcome home celebration” for the athletes and a chance to feature Chicago in the city’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Chicago is a finalist for the 2016 games along with Tokyo; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Madrid, Spain. The International Olympic Committee will choose the 2016 host next year.

August 25, 2008

Well, the YWCA wanted answers and they just released a new report revealing the impact of idealized, airbrushed beauty and body image obsession on the economic well-being, health and interpersonal relationships of American women and girls.

The report, Beauty at Any Cost, shows alarming new trends and money spent on cosmetic surgery alterations, including dramatic increases among young women, and other serious health risks.

Standards perpetuated by a youth-obsessed media culture literally send thousands of messages, 24 hours a day. “We believe that the obsession with idealized beauty and body image is a lifelong burden that takes a terrible toll on all young girls and women in this country,” said YWCA USA CEO, Dr. Lorraine Cole. 

Some highlights of the Beauty at Any Cost report:

•  Americans fork over nearly $7 billion a year to cosmetics, beauty supply and perfume stores, and nearly 11.7 million cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed — an almost 500% increase in such procedures from 1997.
• If women put the average amount of money they spent on monthly manicure-pedicures ($50) into an interest-bearing retirement account every year for 10 years, they would have almost $10,000 saved.
• Over half of teenage girls use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting and taking laxatives.
• Forty percent of newly diagnosed cases of eating disorders are in girls 15 to 19 years old, but symptoms can occur as young as kindergarten. Girls who spent the most time and effort on their appearance suffered “the greatest loss of confidence.”
• In the U.S., cosmetics are not subject to testing by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Individual companies are responsible for substantiating the safety of their products.

“We felt the problem had reached such a crisis proportion that we needed to speak up and draw a line in the sand that this must stop,” said Nancy Loving, director of communications for YWCA USA who added that the group will use the report as a jumping-off point for educational programs in its 300 locations in the U.S.

To help raise awareness and start a national conversation about these issues, the YWCA USA has teamed up with documentary filmmaker Darryl Roberts to become the distribution partner of his new documentary film, “America the Beautiful.”  The film provides an in-depth look and critical analysis of the harm inflicted by beauty obsession on young women and girls.

What do you think? Does America have an unhealthy obsession with being beautiful? 

August 25, 2008

DWTS’ seventh season airs on Sept. 22 and what’s on everyones mind is:  Who will shake a leg on the award-winning reality show in hopes of winning the coveted mirror ball trophy?

Announced today, here’s a rundown of the Dancing with the Stars contestants and their professional dance partners:

• Singer Toni Braxton, 40, and Alec Mazo
• Singer Lance Bass, 29, and Lacey Schwimmer
• Actor Ted McGinley, 50, and Inna Brayer
• Actress Cloris Leachman,82, and Corky Ballas
• Warren Sapp, 35, and Kym Johnson
• Celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito, 31, and Karina Smirnoff
• TV personality Kim Kardashian, 27, and Mark Ballas
• Track star Maurice Green, 34, and Cheryl Burke
• Beach volleyball star Misty May-Treanor, 31, and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
• Soap star Susan Lucci,61, and Tony Dovolani
• Comedian Jeffrey Ross, 42, and Edyta Sliwinska
• Actor Cody Linley, 18, and two-time DWTS champ Julianne Hough
• TV personality Brooke Burke, 36, and Derek Hough

Our fave? Beach volleyball player and recent Olympic gold medal winner Misty May-Treanor!  She’ll go straight from Beijing where she and Kerri Walsh won their second gold medal in beach volleyball to the DWTS comp where we hope she’ll follow in the footsteps of another Olympian - last year’s winner Kristi Yamaguchi.

Don’t miss Team USA take on Japan to win their fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in live Thursday morning, August 21st at 6:30 a.m. EST on the USA network. Japan battled back and won two in a row to face Team USA in the final.

Stuck at work or school? Check out live coverage here. 

August 12, 2008 - Back in May, we posted an article called See Mommy Run in honor of Mother’s Day. Taking the theme one step further, we wanted to shine the spotlight on some of the Medaling Mamas competing in Beijing at the Summer Games.

Xian Dongmei is the first mother to capture a gold medal in China. She already had one under her belt for judo from the 2004 Games but after an injury she retired. Xian gave birth to her daughter last year and claims to be the only “mama judoka” in China. She couldn’t stay away from the training center and the 33-year old won her second gold medal on Sunday.

2008 marks the fifth Olympics for Uzbeck turned German Oksana Chusovitina - a gymnastics record. Her son, Alisher, 8, was diagnosed with leukemia at age two and Oksana used her gymnastics earnings to pay for his treatment.

Just how many “mommy” Olympians are out there? On the U.S. Olympic squad alone there are at least 20 - most with kids under the age of 6.  Here’s a list provided by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Basketball
• Lisa Leslie is the mother of Lauren Jolie Lockwood, born June 15, 2007. A three-time Olympic gold medalist, three-time MVP of the WNBA, and the first woman ever to dunk in a professional basketball game, Lisa Leslie is considered one of the greatest players in the history of women’s basketball. 
• Tina Thompson is the mother of Dyllan, born May 2005. She is a 2004 gold medalist, 2002 World Championships gold medalist and won four WNBA titles with the Houston Comets.

Equestrian
• Show Jumper Laura Kraut has a son, Bobby.
• Eventer Gina Miles has two children, Taylor and Austin
• Dressage rider Debbie McDonald has a son, Ryan.

Judo
• Valerie Gotay began competing at the international level by the age of 14 and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team in 1992 at the age of 18. After the Barcelona Games she retired from competition to pursue a degree in psychology. In 1996 Gotay got married and gave birth to her first of two children.  She returned to competition in 2004 and converted much of her home into a training facility to better help her juggle motherhood and competition.

Shooting
• Brenda Shinn’a son, Kenneth (born January 16, 1987) is the oldest child of a current American Olympian mother. Shinn, 46, is competing in her first Olympics.

Soccer
• Kate Markgraf, defender, Bloomfield Hills, Mich. (living in Milwaukee, Wis.), has one son Keegan, who is 21 months. 
• Christie Rampone, defender, Point Pleasant, N.J. (living in Redondo Beach, Calif.), has a daughter Rylie, who is almost three years old. 

Softball
• Stacey Nuveman, catcher, La Verne, Calif., has one son, Chase, who was born June 6, 2007.
• Jennie Finch, pitcher, La Mirada, Calif., has one son, Ace Shane Daigle, who was born May 2006.

Swimming
• Four-time Olympian Dara Torres has one daughter (Tessa) who was born in April 2006. Torres, a four-time Olympian with 9 (now 10) medals under her belt, never dreamed of competing after she had children. She used swimming as a way to stay fit during her pregnancy and discovered she still had the drive, and, apparently, the talent to compete with the best.

Tennis
• 2000 Olympic gold medalist Lindsay Davenport, Laguna Beach, Calif., has one son, Jagger Jonathan Leach, born June 10, 2007.

Track & Field
• 2008 Olympic Trials marathon runner-up Magdalena Lewy Boulet (son, 3).  She made the Olympic Team in the women’s marathon. An immigrant from Poland Boulet was sworn in as a citizen on 9/11/01.
• 2005 World Championships silver medalist Chaunte Howard has a child  who is almost 1.
• Aretha Thurmond: 3-time Olympian in the discus has a son, Theo, who was born in June 2007. She competed 18 days later at the 2007 Outdoor Championships.
• Tiffany Ross-Williams: Two-time USA champion in the 400m hurdles (’07 and ’08 Olympic Trials) has a daughter Samya born 2005.
• Joanne Dow: Four-time USA outdoor champion (including ‘08 Olympic Trials Champion) has two children: Hannah (born 1989) and Timmy (born 1992).

Volleyball
• 2004 Olympian Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, Honolulu, Hawai’i, has one son, Jordan Nohili Ah Mow Santos, who was born on Feb. 2, 2003.  During the 2004 Olympics, she kept a portrait of her baby under her uniform.

Weightlifting
• Next time you think you have a busy life consider that of Melanie Roach for some perspective. She’s the mother of three small children under the age of six, one of whom is autistic, owner/operator of a gymnastics training facility with over 500 students, wife of a fourth term incumbent Washington State House of Representatives legislator, Sunday school teacher and a U.S. Olympic Hopeful.

How fortunate we are to be living during a time when moms can be anything, do anything, and succeed at any age. These gals are truly an inspiration and proof that just because a woman is someone’s mom, that doesn’t mean she can’t kick your a**.

Check out this great photo gallery from NBC Olympics.