Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson’s longtime sidekick on The Tonight Show, has been hospitalized with pneumonia and other medical issues.

McMahon has had several health problems recently, including a broken neck and a diagnosis of bone cancer.

via Entertainment Tonight:

“A family member tells ET that the 85-year-old has been at a Los Angeles area hospital for nearly one month, and is being treated for pneumonia. ET can confirm that McMahon has been in the intensive care unit and was recently diagnosed with systemic bone cancer.”

It’s not clear which sort of bone cancer he has, but one of the most common types is osteosarcoma. Watch this brief video to understand the disease.

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth Taylor!

Today La Liz turns 77 years young. Known almost as much for her tenacious determination as she is for her acting ability, Liz has lived a life of many ups and downs, and not just professionally or personally.

Liz has struggled with her health, much as many of us non-celebrities do. In fact, she has been hospitalized for everything from a tracheotomy to brain surgery, hip replacement to pneumonia, and even bouts with alcohol dependency. But still she fights on and provides an inspiration to us all.

Liz loves life. Surrounded by all things money can buy, Liz has always had a great appreciation for the simpler things in life. A well-known animal lover, and philanthropist, Liz has been very vocal about her curiosity of the wonders of life.

And, as such, she has been very transparent and open about her many health struggles in hopes of helping others facing the same diseases and issues. Actually, many of her troubles can be traced back to an on-set injury that happened when she was a young child actress. [Read more →]

“I should have known that when I got a hotel in Manhattan for 100 a night that it would be a nasty bug infested experience! The downstairs bathroom in the lobby has graffiti that says ‘if you want an STD stay here!’ Do not stay in this place if your life depends on it. I wouldnt reccomend (sic) this hotel to my worst enemy of fear that they may die with some horrible disease.”

So goes one traveller’s review of hotel Carter, an apparent dump located near Times Square in New York City. Another traveller from Denmark remarked on how many in their group got bedbugs while staying in the same hotel.

Infamously crowned the dirtiest hotel in America for the past four years by users of TripAdvisor.com, the Carter is an extreme example of the type of unsanitary conditions that can be found in some hotels. If you’re planning a winter getaway that involves a stopover in a hotel, you might want to check these lists first - and consider these 3 tips for a healthy hotel stay.

The Bates Motel has nothing on some of the inns on this list, with reviews detailing damp, smelly rooms, cockroach infestations, ant colonies, and bathtub fungus, among other hygiene hazards.

Reading the list reminded me of how even reputable hotels probably take clean-up shortcuts now and then. Remember this video about hotel glasses that came out a couple of years ago? Ewww.

Actress Christina Ricci takes an intensely proactive approach to fitness. She works out five days a week at the Hollywood YMCA. She sets the treadmill at a steep incline and chugs it uphill for 45 minutes and follows her climb with push-ups and chest presses.

After that, “I basically just dink around with the different weights,” she says.

Wow! That sounds like a lot of work. And it is - but Ricci’s routine is not too far beyond the American Heart Association’s recommendations for fitting in fitness:

All healthy adults ages 18-65 should be getting at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity five days of the week.

It’s encouraging to hear that Christina is doing the right thing for her body, considering the struggles she’s gone through to get healthy. [Read more →]

I gazed out the cafe window, watching the snow fall fluffy and soft. It was the lovely sort of snow, that light, unobtrusive snow that often falls delicately onto the heads of a movie’s romantic leads.

People walking by all looked so dear bundled up in their puffy coats, scarves wrapped around their necks, boots to the knees.

It was a lovely winter scene, even with the frigid draught that blew in whenever someone came or went through the doors.

Still, despite all the chilly weather charm, it was a glass of what looked to me like pure liquid springtime that really got my attention … [Read more →]

As many of you who know me or who follow my online writings on a regular basis are aware, I am a huge proponent of the Mediterranean diet.

Being of part-Italian ancestry, this should go without question. And, as many Italian sons have professed many times before me, my mother is the best cook I know. And thanks to her, I can make a mean lasagna.

But my appreciation of Italian food goes beyond its delicious taste. [Read more →]