TipSheet

Family: Single Mom With Kid Needs Break

Anna Kuchment — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:38:27 GMT

Andre Lichtenberg

Two years after her 2003 divorce, Lisa Gentile took her daughter, Claudia, then 6, to Las Vegas. “Somebody told me how family-friendly Las Vegas had become,” says Gentile, 44, a legal specialist from Fanwood, N.J. The pair played by the pool and took a gondola ride at the Venetian, but the experience left Gentile feeling lonely for adult conversation. “When you travel with a child, children will always meet other children, but grown-ups do not necessarily meet each other,” she says.

On their next mother-daughter adventure, Gentile booked a getaway through Single Parent Travel (singleparenttravel.net). The Annapolis, Md., company offers group vacations for adults traveling alone with kids. Last summer, she and Claudia, now 9, spent a week at the Beaches Turks & Caicos resort ($2,767 for seven nights for one adult and one child, all inclusive) along with two dozen other single-parent families. “It was wonderful,” she says. Lisa and Claudia spent most days chatting and playing on the beach with other families, then meeting up again at night for dinner, a stroll or a variety show. They befriended a mother-daughter pair from their home state and have stayed in touch ever since. “The best part is the company,” says Gentile. “You’re meeting people you have something in common with, and their reason for being there is the same as yours.”

Adults who travel alone with kids face some pressures that two-parent families don’t. “Everything falls on you: you’re the good guy and the bad guy, and that can be harrowing,” says John Frenaye, a divorced father of three and president of Single Parent Travel. He makes sure that each of his weeklong trips allows adults to take some time for themselves; they can hit the gym, the spa or the disco while their kids watch a movie or compete in an Xbox tournament. Cost is another factor: most resorts offer children’s discounts only when there are two adults paying full price. And then there’s the question of fitting in; Gentile says she used to worry that she and Claudia would stand out in a sea of two-parent families.

A number of companies are taking steps to make single parents feel more welcome. Breezes resorts (breezes.com) in Curaçao and the Dominican Republic waive their single supplement from May through late December for one adult traveling with kids, and some Beaches resorts (beaches.com) offer single parent weeks, with discounts and activities that allow families to socialize with one another. In July, the Offshore Sailing School in Ft. Myers Beach, Fla., is hosting a weeklong class with special rates for single adults with kids (offshore-sailing.com; $2,893 for one parent and one child, July 13–18). For general advice, singleparenttravel.net publishes a monthly newsletter that includes travel specials and destination ideas. Gentile’s main tip is to just go for it. “You deserve a vacation and to have a good time with your child,” she says. “Don’t worry about what anyone else is thinking.”

With Meredith Karp

Drinks: Take It Nice and Sloe

Newsweek — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:34:47 GMT

By Ron Givens

Sloe gin suffers from a smarmy reputation in the United States—harsh products used in saccharine drinks with lurid names. But now a world-class sloe gin has arrived from England, produced by one of the great gin distillers, Plymouth. Sloe berries—a kind of wild plum—are placed in straight gin, where they infuse the spirit with a wondrous combination of flavors (plum, blackberry, cherry, marzipan, cloves) and lend a rich burgundy color. Plymouth may revive the sloe-gin fizz as an amazing summer refresher (with or without the creamy froth that comes from using egg whites). For something different, try this delicately fruity cocktail:

THE WIBBLE

1 ounce Plymouth Sloe Gin

1 ounce Plymouth Gin

1 ounce grapefruit juice (fresh-squeezed, please)

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice (ditto)

3/4 teaspoon simple syrup (equal parts of sugar and water)

3/4 teaspoon crème de mure (crème de cassis may be used instead of this hard-to-find blackberry liqueur)

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass.

Checklist: Our Top Picks For the Week

Newsweek — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:32:05 GMT

Rent “Baby It’s You.” Twenty-three-year-old Rosanna Arquette burns up the screen in this story of a smart, ambitious Jewish girl from New Jersey and the sharkskin-wearing townie she loves. This honest, class-conscious depiction of high-school life in the late ’60s is one of John Sayles’s best, and least-known, movies—and it’s never been available on DVD before.

Hear “The Day Is Brave” by Brendan James. His compelling lyrics, soothing tenor and piano virtuosity make this debut album a stunning listen. Highlights include “Green,” a sweet musing on a former girlfriend ($13.98).

Surf pollinator.org. Due to bad environmental practices, pollinating species like bees and butterflies are being threatened. To encourage their proliferation, this Web site offers a downloadable planting guide that tells you which plants are best for encouraging a pollinator-friendly habitat.

Read “The Carbon Age: How Life’s Core Element Has Become Civilization’s Greatest Threat” by Eric Roston ($25.99). This elegant volume takes readers on a grand tour of carbon’s role in the universe, from the element’s star-crossed birth billions of years ago to its role in the fossil-fuel industry and global warming.

Go to the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Witness this three-day re-enactment of one of the most important battles of the Civil War, complete with cannons and mounted cavalry (July 4-6; gettysburg reenactment.com).

Correspondents' Picks: Bangkok, Thailand

Newsweek — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:00:31 GMT

By Elisa Mala

With hot climes and the prevailing philosophy of maintaining “cool hearts” (jai yen), Thailand is rife with contradictions. Nowhere is this more evident than in Bangkok, the nation’s capital and most populated city, a seemingly endless sprawl that is at once chaotic and calm. Ultra-modern commercial complexes overshadow some of the oldest Buddhist temples in the world, extravagant dance performances are as plentiful as gory kickboxing matches, sports cars compete with rickshaws for road space, and millionaires live blocks away from those who occasionally lack running water. Born and bred in Manhattan, NEWSWEEK’s Elisa Mala grew up speaking Thai, which kept her close to the culture from halfway around the world. Here are the sites and activities that capture her imagination on trips there.

VISIT the 150-foot-long reclining Buddha at Wat Pho (www.watpho.com) (near the river along Maharat Road, about 2/3 of a mile south of the Grand Palace). Bangkok’s oldest and largest temple also runs the city’s most respected Thai massage school, the Traditional Medical Pracitioners Association Center, so weary wayfarers can rest with a rubdown. An emerald Buddha sits at Wat Phra Kaew, one of Thailand’s grandest worshipping grounds. No surprise that it’s ornate – located on the grounds of the Grand Palace, it shares a home with the king. Dressing like royalty is hardly a requirement, but knees and elbows should be covered, and shoes removed before entering holy sites.

DINE al fresco at local favorite Waterside (waterside-bkk.com) (13/16 Praditmanootham Road), where pla tod mun (fried fishcakes) are as fresh as the river views and coconut milk can be sipped straight from the source. Arrive either very early or very late, or with a reservation, as tables fill up with posh locals. For a more pedestrian feast, epicureans who are brave of heart – and strong of stomach – can sample chicken satay, noodles and other delights at the many vendors alongside the roads.

SHOP the enormous selection of fresh flowers, vegetables and chilies at Pak Khlong Market (on Chakrapratch Road near the Memorial Bridge), a street bazaar that never closes. Dozens of varieties of fried shrimp, pork rinds and herbs galore make Chinatown a one-stop shop for authentic delicacies and natural remedies. Serious shoppers can make a day (or a week) out of exploring department stores and top-shelf boutiques like TopShop in Central World (www.centralworld.co.th), the largest complex in Southeast Asia. The three-story B&S there is the largest bookstore in the country, while SuperSports is home to a 30-meter shoe wall.

RIDE the ferry along the Chao Phraya River, and relive the days when Bangkok was canal-laden and called the Venice of the East. The water channels have since been filled, so traffic now flows along oft-congested throughways and side streets, which are serpentine enough to throw even lifelong natives for a loop. Navigating the roads in a three-wheeled vehicle known as the tuk-tuk is an experience not to be missed, but avoiding traffic altogether is as simple as hopping on the skytrain.

ADMIRE the architecture downtown, the heart of the bustling business district. The whimsical and rainbow-colored Baiyoke Towers (02656-3500) are the tallest in the country. A short elevator ride leads to unparalleled views from the deck atop the 84th floor. For a visual feast from below, nearby loom the Robot Building, which houses the Bangkok headquarters of the United Overseas Bank, and the three towers of the Elephant Building. The gray edifice goes for gusto with “tusks” and “eyes,” and is a larger-than-life version of the national mascot. There are no observation decks or activities within, but design afficionados might find inspiration among these ingenious structures.

SEE handlers milk venom from vipers and cobras at the Queen Saowapha Memorial Institute (1871 Rama IV Road; 02252-0161), a snake farm and treatment facility that turns the toxic serum into anti-venom. It’s not just for show: The on-site clinic also treats snake bites and provides inoculations for common regional ailments like cholera and dysentery.

HAIL to the king by wearing yellow, a symbol of devotion to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who ascended the throne on June 9, 1946 and is the world’s longest-reigning monarch. Outpacing the British by far, even politically apathetic Thais are deeply respectful of the royal family – the king’s and queen’s birthdays are national holidays. Since June 9, 2006, the 60th Anniversary of the beloved king’s rule, Thais across the nation have worn lemon-hued shirts every Monday. The sartorially-savvy monarch also started a pink craze in November 2007 when he left the hospital wearing a blazer with a rosy tint.

Take a Three-Martini Nap

Newsweek — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:49:51 GMT

Asleep on the Job: Sleeping pods at the Empire State Building in New York
AFP-Getty Images

By Tina Peng

If Kristine Johnson gets fewer than seven hours of sleep at night, she barely makes it through the workday. So when that happens, Johnson, a 33-year-old San Francisco office manager, takes a nap. She’s slept in a lawn chair on the roof of her office, in a locked private bathroom (with just a pillow for support) and in her car. Johnson naps at work only twice a month, but it makes a noticeable difference, she says. “It makes me more alert and better able to do my job,” she says.

She’s in good company. In March, the National Sleep Foundation reported that 37 percent of Americans nap during the day. About a third of the people surveyed by the NSF said their workplace permitted naps, and more than a quarter said they would sleep at work if their employer let them. Worktime napping has seen enough of a popularity boost to fill its own business niche: Yelo, a New York City store that opened last year, has private rooms with sleep pods for quick naps ($15 for 20 minutes; yelonyc.com). Its founder, Nicolas Ronco, plans to expand to three New York City locations next year and then to other cities.

Naps do more than make up for lost sleep. They increase creativity, memory and alertness, says Sara Mednick, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, and author of “Take a Nap! Change Your Life.” A recent six-year study of 23,500 healthy Greek adults by the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Athens Medical School showed that taking naps at least three days per week reduced coronary mortality by 37 percent.

Many workplaces, including shoe retailer Zappos.com and New York City-based Workman Publishing, have designated sleep areas. Metal distributor Yarde Metals goes a step further. Its Southington, Conn., headquarters features the “Z Lounge,” a darkened room equipped with a reclining chair that vibrates to music as a TV screen plays video of a babbling brook, crackling fireplace, beach scene or fish tank. “If some people just need a nap for 15 minutes and they can finish out their day with a clear mind, there’s benefit to the company to do that,” says Yarde marketing director Susan Kozikowski.

The ideal nap length fits well within a lunch break. Mednick recommends 20 minutes to boost alertness and motor performance. Getting between 30 minutes and an hour of sleep will put a napper into slow-wave sleep, leaving them groggy, she says.

Mednick recommends that workers who don’t want to sleep at their desks get in the car, drive somewhere quiet and recline the driver’s seat, or go to a gym and sleep in one of its quieter areas. Johnson sometimes puts in earplugs and seeks out closets or storage areas that aren’t likely to be disturbed. Her bosses know about her habit, but they don’t mind, she says. “I’ve never had anything negative said to me about it,” she says—at least not while she was awake.

Italians for Summer

Tara Weingarten — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:47:37 GMT

Wine drinkers often turn to whites and rosés when the weather warms up. NEWSWEEK’s Tara Weingarten talked to master sommelier Rob Bigelow, the director of wine at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, about his favorite Italian varietals.

Nothing’s more American than a backyard summer barbecue. Why should we drink Italian wines with our burgers and hot dogs?
The acidity in some Italian wines means they are thirst-quenching and refreshing, in some cases as thirst-quenching as a cold beer.

We all know about wines from Chianti, but what are some of the less-known regions?
I love wines from Friuli, which is in the far northeast part of Italy. The Friulano grape is a white grape, more Sauvignon blanc-like in its austerity, more acidic, but still very aromatic. It’s crisp and fresh and perfect for summer dishes.

What other wine regions speak to summer?
For rosé, I am serving a wine from Abruzzo called Cerasuolo, and it is crisp and light and fruity. Since the region is near the coast, this rosé pairs perfectly with the spoils of the ocean, from light whitefish to grilled langoustines.

How much will they set us back?
Expect to pay between $15 and $25. Much less than you might pay for a comparable domestic. Are you thirsty yet?

Checklist: Our Top Picks for the Week

Newsweek — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:45:09 GMT

Rent “Persepolis,” Marjane Satrapi’s funny, defiant and unique animated vision of her tumultuous coming of age in Iran—with a hilarious detour to her exile in Vienna. It’s like no animated movie you’ve ever seen.

Surf livestrong.com, a health, fitness and lifestyle Web site launched by the Lance Armstrong Foundation and Demand Media Inc. Browse thousands of videos, articles and nutritional-food profiles, as well as networking with others trying to meet similar health and fitness goals.

Hear “Supreme Genius of King Khan,” by King Khan and the Shrines. Garage-rock shaman King Khan has been peddling his sweaty blend of psychopunk R&B through Europe for nearly 10 years. Now with their first stateside release, the man and his band are set to arrive on our shores—all blazing horns, churning organ and barbed-wire guitar. Yow! ($13.98)

See “The Impressionists: Master Paintings From the Art Institute of Chicago” at the Kimbell Art Museum in Ft. Worth, Texas. On an exclusive loan from Chicago’s venerable museum, the 92 paintings in this exhibition include signature works by Van Gogh, Cézanne, Monet, Renoir, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec and more (through Nov. 2; kimbellart.org).

Go to Salt Lake City for the Utah Arts Festival, a four-day event featuring music, art, film, kids’ events and more. This year’s featured artist is the MASS Ensemble, a performance group that combines art, music and choreography (June 26–29; uaf.org).

Correspondents' Picks: Brooklyn

Newsweek — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:30:56 GMT

DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights and Williamsburg, Brooklyn

By Zach Kussin

Not a Brooklyn native, but certainly a Brooklyn admirer, Zach Kussin has enjoyed his time exploring the DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, and Williamsburg neighborhoods. Having spent time living, learning and working in Manhattan, he was glad to discover the nice change of pace these three areas offer. They are home to some of New York's finest restaurants, art galleries and neighborhood flair. Without the hectic crush of Manhattan in the background, visitors can easily spend their Brooklyn visits at peace.

Stroll through Brooklyn Bridge Park, an urban oasis that offers a pleasant escape from the traffic as well as a variety of outdoor events, including Thursday-night films on a giant silver screen. This summer, visitors can also enjoy The New York City Waterfalls, a series of art installations created by the internationally acclaimed artist Olafur Eliasson. The 90 to 120-foot tall waterfalls located at the Brooklyn anchorage of the Brooklyn Bridge, at the Brooklyn piers, at the shore of Governor's Island and at Pier 35 in Manhattan's Lower East Side will all be easily visible from Brooklyn Bridge Park's vantage point beginning on June 26.

Visit the Henry Gregg Gallery located in DUMBO, home to a blooming art scene, for a sampling of visionary works by some of today's internationally acclaimed artists and photographers, such as Mark Blanchette, Juan Sanchez-Juarez and Sara Conca whose works have previously been on exhibition. Local photographers have the opportunity to show their works in "Brooklyn: Back in the Day," the current exhibit that portrays the change and growth of Brooklyn and its neighborhoods from the '70s up through the '90s(henrygregggallery.com).

Unwind at The Wine Bar, located where DUMBO meets Brooklyn Heights. Here, wine enthusiasts can choose from a wide selection of the world's best red, rosé, white, sparkling and dessert wines by the glass or bottle. Fortunately, The Wine Bar caters to a wide variety of tastes. Cocktail lovers find their niche here with summery drinks like mint juleps and pomegranate twists available on the cocktails menu. Customers need not drink on empty stomachs with such food items as the charchuterie plate, oysters on a half shell and deep fried cheesecake on the appetizers and desserts menu (50 Henry Street).

For a younger scene, stop by Williamsburg's Anytime. Known for having the best happy hour specials in Brooklyn, bar patrons can buy cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer for $1, bottles of Corona for $4, and assorted finger food platters for under $10. The best part is Anytime's happy hour continues until 5:00 a.m., offering partygoers the chance to drink cheaply before stopping by other bars and clubs, and also the chance to get inexpensive late-night snacks before they head home to sleep (93 N. 6th Street).

Shop at Zoë, a hip boutique sandwiched between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, where you will find a wide array of upscale designer items-everything from Tom Ford sunglasses to Diane Von Furstenberg evening dresses. Serving fashion-conscious teens and adults, Zoë offers all you need to blend into Brooklyn's most trendy neighborhoods (shopzoeonline.com).

Looking for less expensive fashions? Try Williamsburg's Beacon's Closet, one of Brooklyn's leading outlets for vintage shopping. Stone-washed jeans, weathered leather jackets, fanny packs and torn Misfits t-shirts all come at a reasonable price to the shopper interested in looking like a true Williamsburg hipster for less than $25 (www.beaconscloset.com).

Enjoy a day or nighttime walk along the Brooklyn Heights promenade. A favorite among locals, this riverside walkway gives spectacular views of the mighty Statue of Liberty, Manhattan's southern tip and also passes by many of Brooklyn Heights' charming brownstones, rowhouses and mansions. End your stroll and satisfy your sweet tooth with a cone of rich, all natural ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, located in an old fireboat house on top of the rebuilt Fulton Ferry pier. Any one of the refreshingly cool flavors offered is sure to keep you well protected against the summer heat (1 Water Street).

Striving for perfection in preparing and serving the finest foods since 1977, The River Café seeks to attract customers with the finest palates. Here, customers can dine on lemon pepper hollandaise-glazed oysters, tender fallow loin venison and goat-cheese cheesecake. Located in one of Brooklyn's most beautiful settings-atop a floating barge just off the Brooklyn waterfront-this restaurant offers panoramic views of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan's skyscraping financial district. (www.rivercafe.com)

Family: Brides Go On a Budget in This Lousy Economy

Newsweek — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:26:06 GMT

Illustration: Chris Gash for Newsweek

By Ashley R. Harris

Like so many women, Michelle La Rocca knew from childhood exactly what she wanted her wedding to look and feel like: Cinderella at the ball. But when the big day rolled around last summer, she was hit with a dose of reality. La Rocca’s Prince Charming didn’t have a king’s ransom in the bank, and she didn’t have a fairy godmother with a platinum AmEx. Clearly, paying for her dream wedding was going to require some creativity.

Taking inspiration from Cinderella’s mouse friends who fashioned a ball gown out of scraps, La Rocca began scurrying around for ways to fulfill her dream on the cheap. She sent out handwritten invitations instead of engraved ones. She scavenged the reception hall for leftover vases and candles to make table centerpieces. She and her fiancé bought candy in bulk to hand out as parting gifts and wrapped them with ribbon and a card. And even though she swore she would never skimp on her gown, La Rocca ultimately bought hers at— gasp!—a discount bridal store.

La Rocca is hardly the only budget bride. With the economy in the tank and the cost of the average wedding now a budget-busting $28,000, “people are doing more research and paying more attention to the details,” says Rebecca Dolgin, executive editor of The Knot (theknot.com), a wedding Web site. “The trend has moved away from everything-has-to-be-over-the-top, ” says Alicia Rockmore, CEO of lifestyle consultancy Buttoned Up (getbuttonedup.com), who says more and more couples are saving their money for the things that come after the big day, like houses and children. “The happiest day of your life should not be your wedding,” she says.

Such sentiments are bad news for the $161 billion wedding industry. Especially when you consider how many businesses get a piece of the wedding cake: an average of 43, according to the book “One Perfect Day” by Rebecca Mead, a writer for The New Yorker. So how do you cut back on all those florists and caterers, beauticians and bands? LaMonica Hale, who works at a nonprofit in Dallas, decided to do her own face rather than hire a makeup artist for $250. Jackie Miller, a teacher in New York, ditched the DJ, got an amplifier and speakers from her friends, and plugged in her iPod instead. Her guests didn’t seem to mind. “They danced the night away,” she says.

Some couples are even faking their wedding cakes. Rather than a traditional tower, which can run as high as $5,000, many brides are buying one made mostly of Styrofoam, with the top tier real cake that can be sliced for photos and smeared on faces. The guests are served look-alike sheet cake, which costs about $4 a slice, compared with $10. “Your wedding guests aren’t even going to know the difference,” says Marilyn DeVault, owner of Piece of Cake, a bakery in Portland, Ore.

One obvious way to save is to slash the guest list, since the typical wedding now has upwards of 150 attendees. Or if you want a smaller wedding without offending your step-aunt Maggie, you might try a destination wedding, inviting a small group of friends and family to, say, Cancún, where you can have both a wedding and a honeymoon. It may sound expensive, but usually the guests pay their own way, and the couple gets a discount on the wedding from the hotel because they’ve booked a block of rooms. The average cost of a destination wedding can vary, but it’s usually upwards of $25,000.

Other tips from the wedding experts: consider getting married on a weeknight, when rates are cheaper; do away with those disposable cameras on the table—you’ll never get them developed anyway; pick only flowers that are in season; send out e-vites instead of paper invites. “The rules are definitely being rewritten,” Dolgin says.

And what about that most sacrosanct of purchases: the dress? Dolgin suggests hitting up designers’ sample sales, where you can buy a gown for as much as 80 percent off (the best time to go is April and May). Or consider wearing a secondhand dress: Mara Madden, a bride-to-be in New York, bought hers from the Bridal Garden (bridalgarden.org), which sells “gently used” and overstock dresses donated by past brides and designers like Vera Wang and Amsale (the proceeds go to a children’s charity). She spent less than $1,000, instead of the $5,000 she would have paid at retail. “It didn’t make a difference to me that it was worn, especially in today’s economy,” Madden says.

Do budget brides wind up feeling cheated out of their big day? Not La Rocca. “I don’t regret anything, because we wanted enough left over to buy a house and start our life together,” she says. And in November, the couple purchased a house in New Jersey. Who says dreams don’t come true?

Outdoors: Sweating in the Moonlight

Newsweek — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:24:23 GMT

By Alicia Coffman

Love the outdoors but hate sizzling in the sun? Parks are offering a cool alternative: night hiking. The benefits go beyond lower temperatures. “Animals, just like humans, take cover in the shade during the day because it’s so hot,” said Scott Egy, an interpretive ranger at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park in Blue Diamond, Nev. ($5 for entry; 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in summer; parks.nv.gov/smr.htm). Depending on where you’re taking your hike, owls, deer, coyote, flying squirrels and bobcats are among the critters you might see. Most nighttime guides will also provide your family with information about the glistening constellations, along with the usual plant and animal information. Kids love it, too. “They’re so intrigued by the dark, and they don’t even realize they’re learning,” says Lynn McIntyre, director of community relations at Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell, Ga. (one 8 p.m. outing in June and one in July; $8 for nonmembers, $6 for members; chattnaturecenter.com). For more locations, contact your local parks department—if it doesn’t have a night hike scheduled, it may add one to its activities. Or check the Sierra Club chapter in your state (sierraclub.org). It posts hiking schedules under the Get Outdoors section on its Web site.

Finance: Cash, On the House

Linda Stern — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:22:26 GMT

Want to take cash out of your house but afraid to borrow? A new crop of no-payment home-equity products is coming to market. The catch: you trade away a piece of your home’s future appreciation for cash now. Unlike traditional reverse mortgages, they are not structured like loans, the fees are lower and there’s usually not an age restriction. With a Rex Agreement (rex agreement.com), you can get $71,000 on a $500,000 home if you agree to split future changes in value 50-50 with Rex & Co. You have to stay in your home for at least five years. (If you want out sooner, penalties run as high as 25 cent of the original sum you received). If the value of your home goes up to $600,000, you’ll owe Rex $121,000 when you sell. That’s the original $71,000 plus $50,000 for half the appreciation. If the value falls to $400,000, you’ll pay $21,000; that’s the original amount minus half the depreciation. Other similar new products are EquityKey (equitykey.com) and My Equity Freedom (granderfinancial.com). Closing costs run as high as $4,000, so look before you leap.

Road Test: Nissan Frontier 4x2 Nismo

Tara Weingarten — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:20:18 GMT

Formidable Rough Rider

Rugged performance doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. Haul heavy stuff and navigate muddy, rocky terrain with the new Nismo version of the Frontier. The radical design is a product of Nissan’s motor-sports division, which has turned its attention on its pickup line.

Exterior Bed: The cab-mounted cargo-bed lamp illuminates the entire cargo area for easy use at night. A factory-applied spray-on bed liner allows for easy clean-up after dirty jobs.

Performance: Off-road performance shocks makes simple work of slushy and pockmarked roads. The formidable 281 foot-pounds of torque give excellent pulling power over moderate terrain.

Comfort: The eight-way driver’s seat has lumbar support. The back seats flip up and have cargo space underneath, complete with a built-in first-aid kit.

Mileage: 15mpg city, 20 highway

Engine: 4.0-liter, V-6

Price: $25,455

Site: nissanusa.com

Checklist: Our Top Picks for the Week

Newsweek — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:14:54 GMT

Hear Jakob Dylan’s “Seeing Things.” With the Wallflowers on hiatus, Bob’s son steps out with his first solo album. The stripped-down guitar leaves plenty of room for lush, knowing vocals ($15.98).

Buy Physicians Formula Eye Shadow Duo. All the ingredients in these two-color sets are certified organic and made without parabens, harsh chemicals or synthetics. Better still, they’re reasonably priced and found in drugstores. And when you’re done, just toss in the recycling bin ($7.95).

Surf mozes.com, a free music-networking site that connects people to their favorite artists via cell phone. By joining a band’s “mob,” or mobile list, users can receive text-message updates on the new hit single or an upcoming concert.

Rent “Caramel.” Set in a Beirut beauty shop where five women—Christian and Muslim, young and old, married, single and adulterous—grapple with love, religion and social repression, this delightful, sensual movie from Nadine Labaki is the closest thing to a Lebanese “Sex and the City.”

Go to the National Capital Barbecue Battle. Forget the strife between Republicans and Democrats—the real war in D.C. is between those vying for the National Barbecue Championship. The event also includes music, kids’ activities and more (June 21–22; bbqdc.com).

Correspondents' Picks: San Francisco, Calif.

Newsweek — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:38:15 GMT

By Kristin Luna

A recent transplant from New York City, Bay Area-based travel writer Kristin Luna is enjoying getting to know her new home through an ongoing culinary and culture tour of what she considers to be America’s greatest city. Read her top finds thus far.

STAY: With the InterContinental’s (Tel. 888-811-4273; www.intercontinentalsanfrancisco.com) prime position directly across the street from the Moscone Center, which plays host to many a global convention, you couldn’t ask for better convenience. Situated just south of Market Square and Union Square, the majority of San Francisco’s most desirable bits are right at your doorstep. If you prefer a more personalized, bed-and-breakfast-type stay, but don’t want t to sacrifice location, the downtown eco-chic Orchard Garden Hotel (Tel. 415-399-9807; www.theorchardgardenhotel.com) in the Financial District, is the perfect option. California’s first LEED-certified hotel and the third of its kind in the nation, the Orchard Garden’s light and airy rooms sport a cheery color scheme of pale yellow and, what else, but green (seafoam, that is). Think: Martha Stewart, only much trendier (and lacking shackles). The lobby restaurant, Roots (Tel. 415-659-0349; www.therootsrestaurant.com), has such an inventive and decadent menu that you needn’t even leave the hotel during your stay. Other popular lodging options are the Four Seasons (Tel. 415-633-3000; www.fourseasons.com/sanfrancisco) and the Mandarin Oriental (Tel. 415-276-9888; www.mandarinoriental.com).

EAT: On par with New York in terms of American culinary excellence, you won’t be hard-pressed for quality dining in the Bay Area. The edgy Incanto (Tel. 415-641-4500; www.incanto.biz) in Noe Valley has made waves for its daring use of food not typically utilized in such gourmet meals (e.g. green peaches, acorns). In keeping with San Francisco’s environment-friendly approach to everything, the Italian eatery has a “waste not, want not” sort of philosophy and was one of the original restaurants to offer a head-to-heel menu. SoMa (South of Market) houses several hip dining joints in its industrial spaces, like Local Kitchen & Wine Merchant (Tel. 415-777-4200; www.sf-local.com) and Oola (Tel. 415-995-2061; www.oola-sf.com). Nearby Coco 500 (Tel. 415-543-2222; www.coco500.com) is the perfect spot for pre-dinner drinks and appetizers; the cocktail list is creative, and everything on the menu - particularly the mushroom flatbread - is delicious. In the southern part of the city, Mission institution Foreign Cinema (Tel. 415-648-7600; www.foreigncinema.com) is one of the city’s most beloved eating establishments, not only screening films (as its name suggests), but serving fantastic French fare, as well.

DRINK: Who doesn’t like an unmarked bar with the utmost air of exclusivity? To be admitted to the central Bourbon & Branch (Tel. 415-673-1921; www.bourbonandbranch.com), call in advance, book a table, and obtain a password that must be covertly whispered to the hostess upon admittance. The novel-size menu of sophisticated drinks paired with the feeling that you should be sitting in the back library - accessed via secret bookcase passageway, naturally - puffing cigars in a tweed jacket while sipping scotch (on the rocks) is priceless. Just be sure and abide by the “house rules.” Nearby Swig (Tel. 415-931-7292; www.swigbar.com) is a little more low key, with its soaring ceilings, dark atmosphere and crackling fireplace. If you’re easily lured in by promises of kitsch or a Disneyland-like theme, hit up Tonga Room (Tel. 415-772-5278), located in the Fairmont Hotel and open since 1945, or Bigfoot Lodge (Tel. 415-440-2355; www.bigfootlodge.com) with its entire drink list and décor devoted to the legendary Sasquatch. Russian Hill’s Bar Johnny (Tel. 415-268-0140; www.barjohnny.com) is a more local establishment with a Cheers-like quality and an extremely charismatic owner of the same name who’s usually on hand to chat with those milling about. Younger sister of New York’s TriBeCa property, champagne bar Bubble Lounge (Tel. 415-434-4204; sanfrancisco.bubblelounge.com) is a hit on Tuesday through Saturday - the nights doors are open to boozers far and wide - particularly on the last Wednesday of every month, when it holds its popular burlesque show. One of the city’s newest hotspots is beer house Monk’s Kettle (Tel. 415-865-9523; www.monkskettle.com) in the artsy Mission, offering 24 brews on tap. Should you find Monk too overbearingly crowded - if you don’t arrive before the happy hour crowd, you’ll often incur a lengthy wait for a table (and the bar takes no reservations) - wander down the bar-packed 16th Street and find something else to suit your taste buds.

DAY TRIPS: Northern California is not lacking in diversity: Perhaps San Francisco’s greatest draw is its proximity to a plethora of things to do from sipping wine in some of the world’s most famed vineyards to scaling peaks with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean. From Wine Country to Stinson Beach and nearby Mt. Tamalpais, the Bay Area is a hotbed of activity. To the direct north is Sausalito and Marin County, home to boats, beaches and trails (oh my!) galore. Less than two hours south by car is Monterey Bay and Carmel-by-the-Sea, charming towns with active waterfronts. Most visitors aim directly for Wine Country as soon as they hightail it out of San Francisco, but instead of laying your head to sleep in Napa Proper, pick a place in one of the Valley’s more endearing towns, like Yountville, which boasts the world-renowned (albeit impossible to book a table) French Laundry (Tel. 707-944-2380; www.frenchlaundry.com) and the stunning, sprawling estate Villagio Inn (Tel. 707-944-8877; www.villagio.com) that just welcomed the addition of a 13,000-square-foot spa. Or head to nearby Aspen-like St. Helena, which offers rustic, yet luxe accommodation like Harvest Inn (Tel. 800-950-8466, www.harvestinn.com), and enjoy crackling fireplaces and well-manicured gardens among a serene backdrop.

Games: I Need a Hero—For Hire

N'Gai Croal — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 15:48:21 GMT

Let's Roll: Metal Gear Solid 4
Konami Digital Entertainment

Grand Theft Auto IV and Wii Fit have scored headlines for shifting public opinions about videogames by deftly tackling the respective subjects that inspired them: crime and fitness. Now comes Metal Gear Solid 4 ($60; konami.com), whose major themes derive from a most unlikely place: President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address warning against the dangers of the military-industrial complex.

Well before last October’s hearings into possible abuses by real-world contractors like Blackwater, game designers became fascinated with the character of the hired gun, including such pro-mercenary titles as Raven Software’s Soldier of Fortune (2000) and Pandemic’s Mercenaries (2005). The appeal is perhaps obvious, but psychologically telling: placing you in the role of a merc gives you access to all the cool ordnance you’d find in the glut of Army games out there, but without having to deal with the annoying hierarchical command structure that comes with the armed forces.

MGS 4 isn’t the only game looking skeptically at the post-9/11 corporatization of military functions—clips and quotes from Eisenhower’s 1961 speech were prominently featured in the trailers for both Army of Two ($60; ea.com) and Cipher Complex (not yet released; ciphercomplex.com)—but it’s by far the most thoughtful, even if its premise is not particularly original. Yes, a villain from the previous games turns up in the Middle East with yet another plan for global domination and, yes, only your lone hero—the prematurely aging Solid Snake—can stop him. But creator Hideo Kojima clearly has more on his mind than a repeat of the hide-seek-and-shoot mechanics that have made him the master of the genre he calls “tactical stealth action,” which emphasizes patience and strategy over the simple pleasures of run-and-gun.

Now, we hate to draw lazy parallels between games and other media, so we’ll just list some of the influences we observed during our play-through of much of MGS 4’s first two chapters: the paranoid style of historian Richard Hofstadter; the covert-ops fetish of authors Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum; the grit and moral ambiguity of filmmaker Sergio Leone. Had Kojima simply larded the game with world-weary, Antiwar 101 dialogue (sample voice-over: “War has changed. It’s no longer about nations, ideologies or ethnicity. It’s an endless series of proxy battles, fought by mercenaries and machines”), we’d just give him a gold star. But Kojima didn’t become an industry luminary solely for his games’ signature: lengthy Socratic dialogues, in which two soldiers—Snake and one of his rivals—debate the nature of conflict, loyalty and human nature. He’s also a master of interactivity, and MGS 4 may be his best marriage of theme and gameplay yet.

The previous Metal Gear Solid games took place in remote enemy bases and outposts that were relatively underpopulated, save for the opponents and an ally or two. You acquired weapons and matériel by relieving enemies of their gear, or through exploration. MGS 4, however, is set on battlefields around the world crawling with both enemy PMCs (private military companies) and rebel forces. The latter will help you if you assist them—or turn on you if you attack them.

With a larger number of enemies in MGS 4 than in the earlier versions, there’s much more weaponry left behind by dead or disabled PMCs and rebels for you to pick up. But you can’t use all the booty right away: the ID-secured weapons of the PMCs are useless without the aid of a new character to the game. His name is Drebin, and he’s a “gun launderer” who’ll buy, sell and unlock ID-protected guns for anyone with money: state armies, PMCs, terrorists, paramilitaries and you.

It’s all part of what’s referred to in the game as the “war economy” (echoes of President Eisenhower). The price of weaponry fluctuates according to that economy, which rises and falls based upon the intensity of fighting in the area: stay out of your enemies’ sight, and the price of acquiring new gear will remain lower than if you cause a ruckus by shooting at everything. The result is that MGS 4’s gameplay vocabulary and rhetoric reinforce each other to achieve what games do best: radically simplify complex systems—in this case, post-9/11 hot zones—in order to entertain and possibly inform. So while no one could or should mistake MGS 4 for a presidential address, it’s another welcome sign that games can be more than just fun.