Dealing with addiction is one of our biggest ongoing public health problems, but did you ever imagine that addicts could be vaccinated against their addictions?  Unlikely though it sounds, the National Institute on Drug Abuse announced yesterday that an experimental vaccine to prevent cocaine users from getting high on the drug is showing promise.  (For a full discussion, see the Scientific American article here.)  The vaccine apparently works by triggering antibodies that bind to the cocaine molecules, preventing them from passing through the blood-brain barrier and as a result preventing the user from getting high.  Although the vaccine still has a number of issues to be worked out (for now, its effects are only temporary, and it’s not effective on everyone), this is potentially a huge step forward in treating addiction.

Aside from the tiny part of me that is saying “Spoilsports!” even though I’ve never had cocaine myself and have no desire to try it, I have to say that this sounds pretty cool.  I’m sure that this method will prove impossible to use on certain addictive substances just because of the chemistry, but still.   According to a quick Google, over 22 million Americans have substance abuse problems of some kind.  A tool that can give addicts some serious assistance in getting their addiction under control?  Fantastic.

“Butterfly in the sky … “

I just learned that the last on-air broadcast of one of my favorite kids’ shows, Reading Rainbow, came to pass on August 28th.  For those of you who might not remember it,  Reading Rainbow has run on PBS since 1983, teaching children about the joy of reading.   New episodes actually stopped airing three years ago, in 2006, but the show lived on in reruns until August.  Now, after 26 Emmys and hundreds of books, it’s over.

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Condé Nast announced yesterday that they were closing four magazines, shockingly including Gourmet.  (Click here for the NYT article on the subject.)  Cookie?  Never heard of it.  But Gourmet?  I was disappointed when Domino folded, but at least Domino was a relatively new magazine.  Gourmet is practically a grand dame by magazine standards, in print for nearly seventy years.  Wow.

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Yowza! From Herve Leger.

As I mentioned in my fall closet update post, I am allowing myself the frivolity of picking up one sequined piece.  Sequins have been in to varying degrees for several seasons now.  I’ve been drooling over them in concept, but somehow I’ve managed to make it to this fall without ever getting my fix.  Lucky for me, sequins are more fashionable than ever this fall, and the stores are bursting with pieces for every budget.  I still haven’t figured out which piece to add to my wardrobe, but my shopping has shown me that there is a lot of really great stuff out there.  After the jump, some of this fall’s best options for glitz.

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Just a few of the names who have signed the Free Roman Polanski Petition:

Woody Allen (ok, no shocker here), David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Julian Schnabel, Terry Gilliam, Jonathan Demme, Stephen Frears, Wes Anderson (sniff), Pedro Almodovar (sniff sniff), Wong Kar Wai,  Adrien Brody (no!), Tilda Swinton (no no no!), Monica Bellucci, Gael Garcia Bernal, Penelope Cruz … and many, many others.

Some excerpts from the document itself:

“Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision. It seems inadmissible to them that an international cultural event, paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, is used by the police to apprehend him … Roman Polanski is a French citizen, a renown and international artist now facing extradition. This extradition, if it takes place, will be heavy in consequences and will take away his freedom … Filmmakers, actors, producers and technicians – everyone involved in international filmmaking – want him to know that he has their support and friendship … If only in the name of this friendship between our two countries, we demand the immediate release of Roman Polanski.”

(And let’s not forget Harvey Weinstein, who wrote his own opinion piece in The Independent, claiming that “Whatever you think about the so-called crime, Polanski has served his time. A deal was made with the judge, and the deal is not being honored . . . This is the government of the United States not giving its word and recanting on a deal, and it is the government acting irresponsibly and criminally.”)  (OK, we always knew Harvey was a bastard to begin with.)

WTF???

I’m not going to get into all the sordid details again, but let me just say this:

So what if she looked 18 and has a terrible mother.   So what if the judge made a deal, and went back on it.  So what if the victim, now-fully-grown with children of her own, has moved on with her life.  So what if the case was “mishandled”, and so what if Mr. Polanski has spent the last 30 years suffering from guilt and international travel restrictions.  And most of all, SO WHAT if he’s a great director, if he’s famous, if he’s powerful, if he’s made some good movies, if he’s a kind and charming man, SO WHAT????

Are people crazy?

To paraphrase Chris Rock – this is like saying – Yeah, but did you see O.J. play against New England?

If Clive Owen’s name pops up on this petition I will really cry.

Page Six is reporting:

THAT Sarah Palin‘s agents are seeking a beauty endorsement deal, pitching cosmetic companies to capitalize on her “lipstick on a pit bull” catchphrase.

For the love of all that is beauty, please let no one take her up on it.  But if someone has to, I’m willing to bet it’ll be Mary Kay Cosmetics – that brand makes a mint pandering to middle America, and this would be right up their ally.

A silken touch of luxury. $58 at J. Crew.

Whooh!  The weather has turned crisp out there; I might even have to turn on the heat at some point.  In honor of our gorgeous fall weather, here’s a feature on scarves.  They’ve been in style all summer, but frankly, given some of the summer weather we had, there was no way I was putting anything around my neck that hadn’t just come out of the freezer.  Now?  They’re the perfect accessory.

The “new” thing, of course, seems to be snoods and infinity scarves (if you can bring yourself to call an item of clothing as old-fashioned as a snood “new” without snickering), but they for the most part look more warm and less pretty, so I’ll leave those for later in the season.  (Snoods?  Really?  Does anyone else feel like they might have to don a corset and several petticoats to wear one?)  I myself have christened the fall season by picking up the lovely at top, a long ombre scarf in soft, slightly crinkled sandwashed silk.  It’s worth noting that the scarf is available in different colors in stores than it is online; I fixed my orange craving by picking it up on Fifth Avenue in a gorgeous hue starting at peach and deepening to a dark burnt orange.  Could it be more fall?

The stores are full of scarves in ombre, tie-die, and perfect fall prints.  After the jump, a few of my favorites!

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