News lifestyle 2008-07-20 Andanh.com

A new Beijing Sun, 20 Jul 2008 04:42 EDT

BEIJING . The taxi driver took a deep breath and tried again: .Ha-pi-tu-mi-te-yu..

Wow, I thought, six years out of Beijing have turned my once almost-fluent Chinese to mush.

Then it hit me. This was English. ..Happy to meet you?'. I asked.

He beamed. Beijingers sure want Olympic visitors to feel at home.

Sullivan students will be cooking at the Olympics Sun, 20 Jul 2008 04:42 EDT

Three Lexingtonians are part of the team of culinary students from Sullivan University that is traveling to Beijing to cook at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

Brigitte Nguyen, Kyle McDaniel and Keller Stadig, along with 20 other students and three chef instructors, are teaming up with New York's Framboise Catering to cook for the Olympic athletes and sponsors.

Sullivan undergraduates from all over the country will be assigned to The USA House, which has a multi-level restaurant/nightclub facility. The menus will change daily and will include interactive stations, buffets and grill stations, as well as .small plates,. cocktail receptions and plated lunches and dinners. Students will work both the front and the back of the house.

South leads nation in adult obesity Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:49 EDT

ATLANTA . The South tips the scales again as the nation's fattest region, according to a new government survey.

More than 30 percent of adults in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee are considered obese. In part, experts blame Southern eating habits, poverty and demographic groups that have higher obesity rates.

Colorado was the least obese, with about 19 percent fitting that category in a random telephone survey done last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The 2007 findings are similar to results from the same survey the three previous years. Mississippi has had the highest obesity rate every year since 2004. But Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia and Louisiana have also clustered near the top of the list.

Better beef for a better burger Sun, 20 Jul 2008 10:10 EDT

Beef burgers have taken a hit lately with so many ground beef products being recalled due to possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination.

So, what's a back-yard chef to do?

Josh Miller, a co-owner of Al's Bar on North Limestone, highly recommends buying local beef. Al's is a trendy hot spot where the burger is as popular as the music and the beer.

During the summer, Miller's burgers are topped with tomatoes and lettuce from his garden behind the restaurant. But he credits the flavor of the burger to the beef, which is purchased from .Colcord Farms in Paris. The same meat is served at Al's sister restaurant, Stella's Kentucky Deli on Jefferson Street.

Louisville "museum hotel' adds garden Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:20 EDT

LOUISVILLE . From the rooftop gardens above, all the way down to the galleries below, Louisville's 21c Museum Hotel is packed with surprises and delights.

It's an ever-changing vista that presents visitors, staff, and even the owners, Laura Lee Brown and Steven Wilson, with an environment where relaxation and enjoyment also include the experience of thoughtful discovery. Once a collection of historically significant but economically stagnant riverside warehouses as well as an old fire station, this 21st-century hotel . along with the innovative cuisine in its Proof on Main restaurant, and its edgy International Contemporary Art Foundation . has now infused the 700 block of Main St. with active daytime commerce and community that continues well into the night, embracing and preserving the area's past while keeping its vision solidly focused on the future.

21c is a .You've just got to see this!. experience. It's attractive not only for those of us just an hour's drive away, but also for celebrities including Harrison Ford and Julie Andrews, who have been spotted checking out the cuisine and culture in recent weeks. Wanting to revitalize Louisville's downtown, and to create a venue for expanding galleries where contemporary works of art could be displayed, Brown and Wilson gathered a team of experts to help deliver their brainchild into the world in early 2006. Now, they're expanding with a similar project in Austin, Texas, and are looking at possibilities even further afield, in Japan and Croatia.

Closer to home, just across Main Street, they've also broken ground for a striking Museum Plaza, an almost $500 million, 61-story multi-use glass skyscraper. Kentuckians Brown and Wilson, who are a couple as well as business partners, have combined their passion for contemporary art and local food to perfection. Says Brown: .What you see here is our vision with a lot of help and support.. That includes input from local residents, civic leaders and an array of expert advisors.

Former president teaches Sunday school Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:31 EDT

PLAINS, Ga. . At 10 a.m., a side door in the front of the red-bricked, one-floor church's sanctuary opens, and a former leader of the free world enters.

.Do we have any visitors this Sunday morning?. asks former President Jimmy Carter, wearing slacks and a coat with a string tie and flashing his famous smile.

The 300 or so people who fill the rural church's sanctuary laugh in the pews.

They have been forewarned in about 30 minutes of instructions from church member Jan Williams, who is part schoolmarm and part drill sergeant, that Carter's first question as their Sunday school teacher will be to inquire about visitors.

Some technology mavens prize a good old book Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:12 EDT

Lexington resident Rich Bowen works for a dot-com, speaks at technology conferences, holds a membership in the Apache Software Foundation, and writes books on Web and software technology.

Looking at his credentials, you might assume he is ready to see an all-digital world, free from the trappings of that slow, old-fashioned technology called paper.

But you would change that assumption after seeing his 1,000-book collection.

A computer professional who prefers words on paper rather than on laptop screens? Such a combination might seem contradictory, but Bowen is far from an anomaly in his field. Perhaps surprisingly, many people who make their living in the computer world are fierce defenders of traditional books.

Jones the go-to guy for Dixie hoops since '74 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:45 EDT

Glenn Jones never got to play basketball as a kid, but he's spent the last 34 years working to make sure generations of Lexington children get their chance to play.

Jones, 60, is the driving force behind Lexington's Dixie Basketball and Cheerleading Inc., a non-profit co-ed youth league in operation since 1971. Jones joined the league as an assistant coach in 1974, and since then has served as a coach, referee, game scheduler, frequent president, and now its tireless chairman of the board.

During league play from the second Saturday of November through mid-February, Jones logs 10-to-12-hour days every Saturday, helping make sure games are going smoothly. He troubleshoots problems with the concession stand and greets parents, players or coaches who have questions.

Long before the season starts, usually beginning in August, he's the one who coordinates teams, schedules the volunteer coaches and referees and oversees sign-ups. It's nearly a year-round job. But he wouldn't have it any other way.

Centenarian's eating habits a model for seniors Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:10 EDT

It might just be some vegetable soup, a grilled pimento cheese sandwich and a glass of milk, but 102-year-old Utha B. Deen makes a point to make herself a nice little lunch and supper every day.

Still, her daughter, Betty, frets.

.She's always fussing at me for not eating enough,. said Deen, who as a 75-year member of the Lexington Homemakers Club is still the cook in her house.

There is a bowl of fresh peaches and bananas in her cozy kitchen, and Deen, who also goes by Sally, is likely to cook up a roast and parcel it out in other dishes throughout the week.

Local lodge to host state mid-year convention
This August marks 112 years of the Elks Lodge 350 in Ashland.

Wishes granted
For children spending time at the Debord Terrace Community Center, the summer is full of games, arts, crafts, water play and movies, as well as making ice cream and tye-dying T-shirts — activities made possible by a $10,000 Impact grant from the Elks Foundation.

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