CRITICAL MASS : Lonesome ghost

PHILIP MARTIN

We'd built a fire and were into our whisky when we saw the Ghost. - Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Music sales decline despite digital rise

BY BEN SISARIO THE NEW YORK TIMES

Sales of recorded music fell sharply in 2008, as consumers continued to migrate away from the CD format, large retailers reduced floor space for music and the recession dampened consumer spending during the critical year-end shopping period. - Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Hulu spurs Web video hullabaloo

BY JAKE COYLE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

In the Wild West that is online video, Hulu (www.hulu.com) has proved to be a trailblazing answer to how professional content can thrive on the Web. - Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Jennifer Christman's What's in a Dame has the day off.

- Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Fox bosses make gamble with midseason offerings

BY SCOTT COLLINS LOS ANGELES TIMES

HOLLYWOOD — Fox has a lot at stake this month and next. Thanks in large part to American Idol, America's mostwatched show, for four straight seasons the network has been No. 1 in the ad-friendly demographic of adults ages 18 to 49 — a reign that's beginning to summon memories of NBC's extraordinary run atop prime time in the 1980s and '90s. - Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Scary adversary Idol looms for Homeland Security series

BY LYNN ELBER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES — Ratings champion American Idol will face serious competition when it returns this month: the Department of Homeland Security. - Tuesday, January 6, 2009

TELL ME ABOUT IT : Love is like the lottery: Elusive

CAROLYN HAX

While I'm away, readers give the advice. - Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Europe's been good for Murphy

BY GLENN GAMBOA MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

Elliott Murphy shrugs off the idea that he is an indie-rock pioneer, even though he independently released his first album in 1981. - Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Social Security Q&A

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

Q: I worked for the last 10 years and now have my 40 credits. Does this mean that I get the maximum Social Security retirement benefit? - Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Michael Storey is on vacation. The TV Column will return Sunday.

- Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Check your knowledge

1. Name the actress who portrays a nun in the movie Dead Man Walking (1995). She won a best-actress Academy Award. 2. Who wrote the novel On the Beach? 3. What is the OAS? 4. Is it true or false that the Great Salt Lake in Utah is almost one-quarter salt? 5.What is the annual rate of gain for the Consumer Price Index if it rises 0.3 percent from one month to the next? 6. A man who gives massages is a "maseur" or "masseur" ? 7. Who said that all he knew was what he read in the papers? 8. What is the current name of the former Turkish province of Tripoli? 9. What role on the television show Frasier was played by John Mahoney ? 10. What is the meaning of "A.D." following a year? Answers 1. Susan Sarandon 2. Nevil Shute 3. Organization of American States 4. True. The salinity is caused by minerals and salts from rivers and streams that flow into the lake. 5. The annual rate of increase is 3.6 percent. 6. "Masseur" 7. Will Rogers 8. Libya 9. He portrayed Martin Crane, father of Frasier and Niles Crane. 10. Anno Do - Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Brian Eno, David Byrne create their second alliance

BY DAVID BAUDER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — To demonstrate his working relationship with Brian Eno, David Byrne plugs an iPod into his computer. From speakers comes the gentle strumming of an acoustic guitar, the chords occasionally changing. - Tuesday, January 6, 2009

It's about time

BY HELAINE R. WILLIAMS

So you've made your New Year's resolution to train for a marathon — OK, well, to work out. Granted, it's the same resolution you make, and break, every year. But in 2009, you're really going to do it. - Monday, January 5, 2009

Post-run heart issue likely 'blip on radar'

BY GINA KOLATA THE NEW YORK TIMES

The man was 40 years old and seemed perfectly healthy — he had just run a 10K. But he fainted after the race and was rushed to a hospital. There, in the emergency room, his blood was tested. His levels of a heart protein, troponin, were sky-high. - Monday, January 5, 2009

Group logs miles, smiles while hitting high points in all states

BY JANE MARGOLIES THE NEW YORK TIMES

Josh Spooner freely admits to being a Type A personality. Goal-oriented and methodical, this 32-year-old pharmacist from Sturbridge, Mass., was in the process of hiking all 48 of New Hampshire's 4,000-foot mountain peaks (a five-year mission completed in 2002) when he decided he should expand his ambitions. - Monday, January 5, 2009

Happy trails

- Michael Storey

SPADRA CREEK NATURE TRAIL Location: Take Interstate 40, Exit 58, north at Clarksville. The trailhead is immediately on your left behind Wendy's on Rogers Street (Arkansas 103). Look for the sign. Length: 3.4 miles — 1.7 paved miles on west side of Spadra Creek and 1.7 unpaved miles back to your car via the east side. Main attractions : Urban trails are to be treasured, and Clarksville has a nice one alongside Spadra Creek. Stick to the paved side for an easier walk, or cross over at the halfway point for a more rustic return. Amenities: Parking only at the Old Iron Bridge, but Wendy's looms over the parking lot. Hazards: The steep iron stairs at the end could be tricky. Hold on tight. Dog, bike, tyke friendly? Yes, on a leash; bikes on paved portions only; kids will love the paved trail. Rating (out of five): Know a good trail for a hike? E-mail mstorey@arkansasonline.com - Monday, January 5, 2009

Life lines

BY CELIA STOREY

Train for the Cure The great thing about the annual Susan G. Komen for the Cure races is they benefit a cause so emotional it draws all kinds of people out of their dens to try their very first 5K. People who do not see themselves as athletes are willing to put on running shoes and trundle along for 3.1 miles to raise funds for breast cancer prevention. - Monday, January 5, 2009

Restless reader

- Celia Storey

Shape Up With the Slow Fat Triathlete By Jayne Williams (Da Capo Lifelong paperback, 2009), 269 pages with index, $15.95. - Monday, January 5, 2009

Diagonal crunch strengthens abdomen

BY MATT PARROTT SPECIAL TO THE DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Exciting new abdominal exercises always draw interest from fitness enthusiasts whether they're male or female. Typically, there are distinct sexual differences with regard to training other body parts, but both sexes seem equally bent on developing a toned, firm midsection. - Monday, January 5, 2009

Readiness, fast thinking can avert hypothermia

BY TERRY TOMALIN ST. PETERSBURG (FLA.) TIMES

While we were paddling in the dark on a cold December morning several years ago, a wave broke over the bow of my sea kayak and sent a cupful of cold water into my lap. - Monday, January 5, 2009

At 50-year mark, aging study seeks healthy octogenarians

BY NANCY SZOKAN THE WASHINGTON POST

There's something fitting about America's longest-running scientific study of human aging reaching a landmark anniversary of its own: The Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging turned 50 in 2008. - Monday, January 5, 2009

Even amateur bowlers get serious injuries, study shows

LOS ANGELES TIMES

Professional athletes regularly suffer injuries, but amateur athletes can experience serious pain as well. Even amateur bowlers. - Monday, January 5, 2009

Check your knowledge

1. In a regular sketch on television's The Carol Burnett Show, Carol Burnett played the role of an office worker named Mrs. Wiggins. Tim Conway portrayed her boss. His name? 2. What well-known actress made her movie debut in Gaslight (1944), a picture starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer? 3. President Woodrow Wilson was married twice. The first names of the wives? 4. What is a precipice? 5. Ty Ty is a character in what Erskine Caldwell novel? 6. Name the most populous city in Saudi Arabia. 7. If a horse finishes in place position in a race, is the horse second or third? 8. Is the African or Indian elephant larger? 9. Which Marx Brother did not speak in his acting role? Answers 1. Mr. Tudball 2. Angela Lansbury 3. Ellen and Edith 4. A vertical or nearly vertical or overhanging rock face, or steep cliff. The term also describes a hazardous situation. 5. God's Little Acre 6. Riyadh, the capital, with a population of 4.7 million 7. Second.Third is called show. 8. African, which is taller and has larger ears - Monday, January 5, 2009

ON TV CONTEST : Oh TV brother (or sister), where art thou?

BY JENNIFER NIXON

People say you can't choose your family. But what if you could? - Monday, January 5, 2009

Yes, yoga can build muscle strength too

BY HOWARD SCHNEIDER THE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — Yoga may have a soft and peaceful reputation, but the theme at Willow Street Yoga on a recent evening was fear. If I collapse from a handstand, what happens to my face? - Monday, January 5, 2009

Signal Hill tops the list as Arkansas' pinnacle

- Celia Storey

Arkansas' highest point, Signal Hill, sits 2,753 feet above sea level in Mount Magazine State Park. - Monday, January 5, 2009

Fitness market

- Celia Storey

Reflective vests What are these? The Nathan Streak is a reflective vest designed for running. The Nathan Cyclist Vest is a reflective vest designed for, yes, bicycling. Why? Because when it's dark out, drivers have a hard time spotting pedestrians and bicyclists until they're about to run them over. The retroreflective patches on these vests light up in headlights from 400 yards away, giving drivers more time to avoid a collision. How are they different? The Streak's armholes veer inward to stay away from runners' flailing arms. The Cyclist Vest is cut higher across the back than the front and is longer in the back. It includes a webbing loop where you could clip a red blinky light — a good idea because red flashers can be seen from even farther away than reflective stuff. Cost? The Streak is $25 and the Cyclist Vest is $19.95 through online dealers. Where? Specialty running and cycling shops carry similar reflective products; Nathan's retailers are listed at nathansports.com. - Monday, January 5, 2009

Spiritual connections

BY RON WOLFE

The Spirit fights crime in make-believe Central City, but the masked hero and his creator, cartoonist Will Eisner, have real friends in Arkansas. - Sunday, January 4, 2009

SPIN CYCLE : No eyes on Crown by Batson

JENNIFER CHRISTMAN

There was at least one person who didn't watch Miss Arkansas Ashlen Batson in Friday's premiere of Countdown to the Crown, a reality show leading up to the Jan. 24 Miss America pageant. - Sunday, January 4, 2009

SPIRITS : New Year's Eve a bubbly treat

BY PHILIP MARTIN

Of champagnes I know nothing. Besides which, champagne is not a wine but a drug. Invaluable when one is tired — I pant for it when I am tired, but it is not a wine... I only drink champagne to raise me from the dead — a thing I constantly need. — Hilaire Belloc, "Advice" This column generally runs on the first Sunday of each month, so it will never be particularly well-positioned to take up the subject of New Year's Eve. - Sunday, January 4, 2009