Hit Show Means Better Than Normal

It's about time that mental health and all its ins and outs went mainstream and entered the realm of in-our-faces theatre. 'Next to Normal' is a musical about mental illness and how it affects a family. It first played off-Broadway last year, and then went through some revisions that produced rave reviews in Arlington, Va. Now the musical heads for Broadway. The show's producer knew this was the way to go from the total agreement of critics and audiences. He pointed out that "Everyone I know can relate to this," because "either it's in their own family or it's in the family next door….I think people want to feel big emotions in theater. And that's what this show delivers."

They Went Shopping, but Found—What?

How about the remains of a Columbian mammoth and a saber-tooth-cat? Researchers were excited to discover the almost complete mammoth skeleton and over many smaller fossils that will help describe life 10,000 to 40,000 years ago. The scientists developed a new technique to extract the fossils relatively fast, digging around them and building crates to lift-out huge chunks of soil intact. The fossil site is under a former parking lot in LA's upscale Miracle Mile shopping district, but the area is known as a paleontological treasure chest. In ancient days, petroleum oozed to the surface there, forming bogs that trapped animals and preserved their skeletons. Although the area is a protected site, a parking garage will soon built there, hence the rush to pull the fossil-bearing sediment quickly.

Faith-based Office

Former President George W. Bush began a new initiative that will be overhauled and expanded by the Obama administration. The new White House will include an Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The administration's aim is to show no favoritism to any particular religion and keep strict separation of church and state. The faith-based efforts will coordinate the extension of social services to communities in need, and federal funding will only be used for services to help the underprivileged. While recognizing that all religions teach us to love and care for each other, the office will not be used for religious evangelism. The work of this office will be rigorously evaluated to discover what works best. Summer learning programs for 1 million children are a priority.

TV versus Minorities

Reality TV gets plenty of criticism, but now it's being recognized for 'keeping it real' in a much more relevant way: racial diversity. In fact, reality television reflects the greater diversity in the United States more accurately than scripted prime-time shows. Even a quick look at major network programs demonstrates that, even though pressured for decades to diversity, the vast majority of lead characters in most prime-time scripted shows are still white, and usually youthful and prosperous. Reality TV shows consistently feature people of different races, age, class, and sexual orientation. Let's hear it for the real reality.

Locavores: Thinking Globally, Eating Locally

This term was Oxford American Dictionary's 2007 Word of the Year. Food activists, locavores try to live more in harmony with the earth by eating foods grown locally and mostly without chemicals. Eating locally means less reliance on fossil fuels for foods' transportation. Locavores may grow some of their own foods, trade with neighbors, or buy foods grown in ways that don't exploit farmers, like from farmers' markets. They believe that food quality depends not only on what produced, processed, and transported it, but also how it's prepared and cared for until it reaches their plates. By "voting" with their buying habits, locavores can influence food buying choices, and the nature of farming. How did your lunch get to your plate today?

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