|
Issue Date: November 28, 2004
Lassie comes home again
A pop icon returns to Hollywood.
Coming next year
> Lassie's Pet Vet, a syndicated television series co-hosted by Lassie and veterinarian Jeff Werber.
> Lassie, an animated TV series for preschoolers about her puppy years.
> Award-winning writer-director Charles Sturridge (Shackleton) helms the feature film Lassie, based on Eric Knight's classic novel about a boy and his loyal dog.
|
Forget Tinkerbell, Paris Hilton's pocketbook pooch: Lassie's back. This year marks the 50th anniversary -- that's 350 dog years -- of her TV debut, but America's favorite collie soon returns to pop culture with a movie and TV show starring a descendant of the original Lassie of the 1943 movie. (Lassie is always played by a male collie.)
Lassie is well-suited to the times, says Ace Collins, who wrote "Lassie: A Dog's Life: The First Fifty Years." "In a complicated world, there's no better security blanket than Lassie. She represents the absolute best we can be and reflects what we want out of a companion: love, honor, devotion and unconditional acceptance."
In addition to a long-running TV show (1954 to 1974), Lassie's pop-icon status earned her both a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and recent TV commercials. The original series still runs on cable; there's also a newly released DVD box set, "Lassie: The 50th Television Anniversary Edition" (Classic Media, $29.98).
Go to top
Martini manicure
Don't be surprised if you get food or wine all over you the next time you go to the spa. Cocktail-inspired beauty treatments and sushi pedicures are all the rage in Hollywood, where dishy celebs like Cameron Diaz and Mandy Moore indulge in hot sake foot soaks at the trendy Paint Shop Beverly Hills (paintshopbeverlyhills.com). Heated sake increases circulation, and wasabi and rice poultices heal and restore moisture to tired tootsies ($68). The Hot Buttered Thumb Manicure ($45) uses warm milk and cinnamon oil to soften the cuticles as a mixture of brown sugar, rum and nutmeg exfoliates the hands. (Just try not to lick it off!) At the Rancho Las Palmas Marriott in Rancho Mirage, Calif., you can even get a skin-firming caviar facial ($174). And wine is making for feel-good facials and body wraps elsewhere, thanks to the antioxidant-rich grape. Talk about a happy hour.
Go to top
Slip away for a snooze
Get 40 winks before heading back to work.
|
The power snooze goes mainstream with MetroNaps, the brainchild of two young New Yorkers. Arshad Chowdhury, 28, and Christopher Lindholst, 29, opened their rest center this year in Manhattan's Empire State Building. Hours of operation: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Weekends, you're on your own.) Cost: $14 for 20 minutes, $9.50 for each additional 20 minutes. The sleep area features high-tech, ergonomically designed "napping pods," complete with comfy blankets, piped-in white noise, ocean waves and soft acoustic guitar. You're woken by a soft "sunrise" of artificial light and a gentle vibration of the cushion. The National Sleep Foundation reports that a 20-minute nap may help us stay alert the rest of the day. For more information, call 212-239-3344 or go online to metronaps.com.
Contributing: Rosie Colombraro, Kathleen Conroy, Mary Beth Klatt
|
