New, Views, and Gossip

[Adina Zanolli]

I've got places for the new, views, and gossip in my other forums. Sometiems I have items that don't fit any of the other sections.

So, I thought I'd put one in here too.

[Adina Zanolli]

Starbucks to Provide Additional Lower Calorie Options this January

Beginning Tuesday, coffee giant Starbucks is introducing additional lower-calorie beverages and snacks for customers conscious about their waistline.

"Reducing the number of calories – even slightly – can have a great benefit over time," said Katie Thomson, senior nutritionist, Starbucks Coffee Co. in a release. "Saving just 100 calories a day adds up to about 10 pounds of weight loss per year. And we know cutting calories should not mean depriving customers of great taste."
Among the additions are sandwiches such as chicken Santa Fe panini, roasted tomatoes and mozzarella panini, ham and swiss panini and tuna melt panini. Prices for these items range from $5.45 to $5.75 each.
The company is also expanding its zero-calories Tazo full-leaf tea selections with a vanilla rooibos flavor and adding 10 new teas, all featuring whole tea leaves and many featuring whole botanicals and spices. As part of the menu, the chain will also highlight its well-liked skinny cinnamon dulce latte and skinny vanilla latte, which contain 90 calories each for a "tall" 12-ounce size.

Starbucks's move comes at a time when more and more consumers are shopping around for low-fat options. Last month, fast food chain Taco Bell also announced a new drive-thru menu for diners on a diet.

LINK

[Adina Zanolli]

Facts from New Years' past:

• December 31, 1907 was the first time the ball dropped in Times Square.
• The first ball weighed 700 pounds, was 5 feet in diameter and included 100 25-watt bulbs.
• The ball did not drop in the years 1942 and 1943 due to wartime restrictions.
• Robert Burns composed the song "Auld Lang Syne" in the 1700's. The term means "old long ago" or "the good old days."

[Adina Zanolli]

Venus Williams Wears Nude Shorts, Shocks Tennis Spectators

Oh, Venus Williams: a woman perfectly capable of making headlines based solely on her outstanding tennis record -- she's won eight grand slam singles titles, plus Olympic gold -- yet, unfortunately, she's decided to take after her catsuit-wearing sister Serena and try to create news in a far less appealing way.

For Williams' fourth round match of the Australian Open, the elder of the two champion siblings decided to thumb her nose at the tournament's new policy banning revealing clothing (enforced after a star Australian player wore a sort of see-through top last year) and don a dress of her own design that featured flesh-colored tennis panties which made it appear as if she was going au naturel, well, down under.

Clearly an intentional move, Williams, who holds a fashion degree, took to her Twitter page to defend the outfit, which also included a flesh-colored panel underneath a yellow dress with a plunging neckline.

"My dress for the Australian Open has been one of my best designs ever! [Ed Note: Hanging out with Andre Leon Talley does not a tasteful "designer" make. Sigh.] Its (sic) all about the slits and the V-Neck," she tweeted. "I am wearing undershorts the same color as my skin, so it gives the slits in my dress the full effect."

Riiiight... because it's ever so important to have your tennis dress mimic a red carpet gown with slits up to there or to trick viewers into believing you're having a Britney Spears crotch-shot moment. Totally the effect you want to go for.

According to the Daily Mail, Williams also went on to explain her outfit -- and thus promote her questionable design skills -- at a press conference.

"This is completely my design. I just sketched it out. The whole idea is just about the illusion that I'm wearing a deep V-neck," she said. "Then the idea was to wear shorts that were like the same color as my skin. It works very well, apparently."

Or not.

What it does, rather, is distract from the dialogue of Williams' game (she won in three sets, by the way, and she and Serena are now only a match apiece away from meeting each other in the semifinals) and keep viewers and critics of women's tennis focusing on more petty -- and sort of sexist -- details like the players choices in clothes, jewelry, hairstyles and their grunting habits.

Williams' peek-a-boo design, in addition to the fashion antics of other players, also doesn't help the annoying branding of every young, somewhat good looking player (ahem, Maria Sharapova) as a sex symbol.

As for Venus the "designer" wanting to showcase her fashion line, we'd rather she choose a more appropriate venue -- a fashion show in Miami, perhaps? -- than a grand slam tournament. But maybe that's just us.

LINK

[lil mama]

Gees... she got brown short underneath whats the big dea and so what if a lil butt shows... we all seen worse. Let's face it a big booty like that is a lil hard to contain in place with all that moving around, somethings bound to move.

[Adina Zanolli]

I really don't see what the big deal was. If I was in the crowd and thought she was nudey-booty, I would laugh later and just think, she got me!

[BIG BOSS !!]

Now what do we have here:




Two divas who are thankful for their friendship, I would imagine.

[JuicyGlamGirl]

LOL where did you find that pic?!!!! hahaha

[BIG BOSS !!]

LOL where did you find that pic?!!!! hahaha

The MD Gods bestowed it upon me.