Kathy Riordan's Open Salon Blog

And Now, For Some Good News: Home Sales Up, Gas Prices Down

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:11:31 -0500

Sure could use a little good news today. . .Anne Murray sings a timely tune.

Some good news emerging at the beginning of Thanksgiving week in the US:

*Home sales were up a surprising, unexpected 10.1% in October, to the highest level in 2 1/2 years.

*The leaders of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches met privately at the Vatican over the weekend. Pope Benedict XVI and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, pledged to continue dialogue for unity between the two faith traditions.

*Google bans tooth whiteners, tummy flatteners and other scammy advertisers from its network.

*Gasoline prices are down in some midwestern states in advance of the Thanksgiving holiday.

And Now, to Bed

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:11:14 -0500

Is there anything more wonderful than the bed?

The first notion of 'us' is found in it.

Our mothers give birth to us in it.

We are cradled to sleep in it.

Our parents tuck us into it. And read us stories.

It nestles our dreams.

It gives us comfort and rest.

It takes us in when we are weary. And sick.

We eventually find love in it.

Our marriages are bound in it.

We take refuge in it.

It travels with us as we explore the world.

We long for it when we are away from it.

We find ourselves torn when we leave it.

We can't wait to get back into it.

We find renewal and peace in it.

We pass through our darkest hours in it.

Eventually, we say goodbye in it.

Bed.

Layers of eiderdown. Cheap Army cots. Sleeping bags on the ground. Dorm rooms. Bunk beds. Grandma's four-poster with a log cabin quilt. Hotels with chocolates on the pillow. Princess and the pea. Any port in a storm. A place to lay my head.

Bed.

*******

"So live, that when thy summons comes to join

The innumerable caravan, which moves

To that mysterious realm, where each shall take

His chamber in the silent halls of death,

Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,

Scourged to his dungeon; but, sustained and soothed

By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave

Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch

About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."

- William Cullen Bryant, from "Thanatopsis"

Joanna Krupa's Swan Song on Dancing With the Stars

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:11:24 -0500

She might not be dancing for the coveted mirror ball trophy next Monday night, but newly eliminated Dancing With the Stars contestant Joanna Krupa will be gracing the December 2009 cover of Playboy. (photo, Playboy)

Model Joanna Krupa was the surprise elimination Tuesday evening on Dancing With the Stars, getting her walking papers after nine weeks of competition.

Krupa was heavily favored to go into next week's final competition with singer Mya, but Donny Osmond and Kelly Osbourne both edged her out in viewer votes despite her higher judges' scores. The Polish-American swimsuit model, named Sexiest Top Model in the World, delivered many powerful performances in this season's competition aided by the skillful choreography of her professional partner Derek Hough.

Here was Joanna's final dance as she exited the show, an encore of her Viennese waltz from Monday night:

And some of her more memorable dances of the season:

Dancing the Argentine tango in the absence of her ill partner, Derek Hough, Week 5.

Winning the Mambo Marathon with a signature move, Week 6.

Showing an incredible futuristic paso doble, Week 8.

One Bad Osmond Don't Spoil the Whole Bunch, Girl

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:11:27 -0500

Donny Osmond stumbled badly in the tango, his first dance of three on Dancing With the Stars Monday evening, but ever the professional, managed to come back stronger than ever in a very personal purple samba to his childhood Osmonds hit, "One Bad Apple."

Donny Osmond redeems himself from a bad opening tango with a samba to "One Bad Apple."

Donny and his brothers, The Osmonds, performing "One Bad Apple" live back in the early 1970's.

If Donny makes it into the finals next week, he potentially faces some fierce competition from two of the other three remaining competitors:

Mya and her partner, Dmitry Chaplin, dance a waltz to "Amore et Musica."

Joanna Krupa and her partner, Derek Hough, do a spicy salsa with their racy signature move.

Kelly Osbourne proves girls really do just wanna have fun in a sassy cha cha with her partner, Louis Van Amstel.

In Search of Salon's Sexiest Men Living - Eric Ripert

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:11:19 -0500

The call has gone out to find the sexiest men living as Salon embarks on its annual quest of the same, and our standards were high--the men had to be smart, sophisticated, savvy, talented, well educated, sensitive, philanthropic, generous of heart and spirit, and all around good guys. If they were easy on the eyes, all the better.

Our choice for Sexiest Man Alive for 2009 is:

Eric Ripert

A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and . . .Eric Ripert. Life is good.

There's a lot of taste and tastiness in the silver haired Frenchman who began his career as a chef at the age of seventeen in the famous dining halls of Paris, and by the age of twenty-nine had taken the helm at Le Bernardin in New York City after the unexpected death of executive chef Gilbert Le Coze and earned for the restaurant a coveted four star rating from The New York Times. He maintained that four star status along with picking up a coveted three stars from Michelin as he expanded his restaurant base to other cities in the U.S. and the Caribbean. In 2003 he accepted the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef of the Year.

His generosity extends beyond the kitchen, as he chairs New York City's Harvest Food Council, the world's first food rescue program, bringing people in the restaurant industry together in a mission to end hunger. A frequent guest and judge on television cooking shows, Ripert now has his own series, Avec Eric, on PBS.

Eric Ripert, executive chef of Le Bernardin (photo, Le Bernardin)

From the streets of Antibes and his grandmother's kitchen, through the fields of Andorra and the lights of Paris, to the heart of New York City and the television sets of millions, the palate pleasing Ripert has found his way through the world, bringing his singular sense of style and his gentle but powerful voice.

Smart, sophisticated, charismatic, charming, unruffled, unassuming, we'd easily give him four stars in the easy on the eyes department alone. But he's a complex, competent and modest chef who demonstrated from an early age an ability and passion for the industry and for helping others.

That's four star sexiness in our book. We'll bring the picnic blanket. And the truffles.

The Warren Report: Eric Ripert - On the Line

The runners-up:

Anderson Cooper

Max Headroom meets Paul Newman. The heir apparent to those baby blues, a savvy news anchor with a storied heritage, completely ultrachic, CNN's Anderson Cooper is one of the reasons we still tune into cable news.

Harry Connick, Jr.

Sprung from the musical loins of New Orleans and always less than a heartbeat away from her greatest needs, singer, songwriter and actor Harry Connick, Jr. makes us miss Frank a little less. It's hard to fault someone who performed with the New Orleans Symphony before the age of ten, then went on to great fame on stage and screen.

Liam Neeson

We've always loved the bookish Gaelic sensitivity of Liam Neeson, but never more so than in March of this year when he showed us all, with incredible grace and dignity, how to grieve.

Dr. Sean Bush

We hate snakes, but it would almost be worth it to be bitten by one to be cared for by Dr. Sean Bush, one of the world's leading experts on snakes and snakebites, and professor of emergency medicine at Loma Linda University School of Medicine. Venomology isn't our thing, but thankfully for many people, it's his. He's smart, capable, appropriate, and deadly sexy.

Prince William

The once and future king, and Diana's son, personable, sophisticated, and willing to do what it takes for the British Empire, his mother gave Prince William a joy for life that is unmistakable and electrifying.

Barack Obama

It's hard not to be sexy when you're the leader of the free world and a great father, but we have to admit the man cuts a fine figure in a suit and has a voice like butter. This one, of course, is a gimme.

Anthony Hopkins

So maybe Hannibal Lechter wasn't the sexiest of all men on celluloid, but Welsh actor Sir Anthony Hopkins has dazzled since the days of being Olivier's understudy. Less well known are his accomplishments as a pianist, songwriter and screenwriter. We'd love to know what's inside that sexy brain of his. . .preferably without the nice Chianti and some fava beans.

David Duchovny

He had us at Master of Arts in Literature. Everything else after that, X-Files or X-rated, from the Jewish Lutheran actor David Duchovny, is purely gravy.

Steve Martin

Who can resist a former philosopher turned perennial funnyman who can also play a mean banjo? Not us. Steve Martin is smart, sophisticated, and always makes us laugh, even at his own expense, which can be enormously sexy.

Gilles Marini

He might have been typecast forever as the to-die-for neighbor in Sex and the City, but we subsequently learned that Gilles Marini is a dedicated dad with a tender heart and a reach for that greater something. This man would be sexy even if we were blind, which fortunately, we are not.

For Salon staff's Sexiest Man Living 2009 choices, see: Salon - Sexiest Man Living 2009

For more on Making Mr. Right, see: Open Salon - Making Mr. Right