Paris Jackson: 'I want to be my own person'

Just like her late father Michael, Paris Jackson knows how tough it can be to live life in the spotlight. But somehow, that only seems to have made the 14-year-old aspiring actress, who's landed a role in the 2013 film "Lundon's Bridge and the Three Keys," more determined to stay there. In a new interview with Glamour, the teen opens up about her showbiz dreams. "A lot of people don't want me to do it," Paris tells the mag, acknowledging comments like the one her aunt Janet Jackson made during an interview with “Access Hollywood”: "[Paris] has the rest of her adult life to be that actress that she wants to be.... Your childhood — you completely lose." However, as Paris notes, her aunt La Toya Jackson, is very supportive of her goals. "Aunt La Toya believes in me. She heard me play a little guitar and sing, and she started clapping, 'Oh my God, oh my God.' She really does encourage me; it's just awesome of her."

Paris and her brothers Prince, 15, and Blanket, 10, have a complicated relationship with many of their extended family members. In July, a judge ordered that guardianship of the three be shared between Michael's mother Katherine Jackson, formerly their sole guardian, and their cousin T.J. Jackson, the son of Michael's brother Tito. While Paris doesn't elaborate on any of the family drama, she does note that she doesn't expect any special treatment in her career because of her famous moniker. "I love my dad, and I'm proud to be his daughter," Paris says. "I just don't think the title 'M.J.'s daughter' fits me. A lot of people think he's the only reason I'm making it, but I want to show that I do have talent and that I can make it if I try. I want to be my own person."

BCAA supplementation may treat autism and/or epilepsy

An international team of researchers, led by scientists at the University of California, San Diego and Yale University schools of medicine, have identified a form of autism with epilepsy that may potentially be treatable with a common nutritional supplement.
The findings are published in the September 6, 2012 online issue of Science.
Roughly one-quarter of patients with autism also suffer from epilepsy, a brain disorder characterized by repeated seizures or convulsions over time. The causes of the epilepsy are multiple and largely unknown. Using a technique called exome sequencing, the UC San Diego and Yale scientists found that a gene mutation present in some patients with autism speeds up metabolism of certain amino acids. These patients also suffer from epileptic seizures. The discovery may help physicians diagnose this particular form of autism earlier and treat sooner.

The researchers focused on a specific type of amino acid known as branched chain amino acids or BCAAs. BCAAs are not produced naturally in the human body and must be acquired through diet. During periods of starvation, humans have evolved a means to turn off the metabolism of these amino acids. It is this ability to shut down that metabolic activity that researchers have found to be defective in some autism patients.
"It was very surprising to find mutations in a potentially treatable metabolic pathway specific for autism," said senior author Joseph G. Gleeson, MD, professor in the UCSD Department of Neurosciences and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "What was most exciting was that the potential treatment is obvious and simple: Just give affected patients the naturally occurring amino acids their bodies lack."
Gleeson and colleagues used the emerging technology of exome sequencing to study two closely related families that have children with autism spectrum disorder. These children also had a history of seizures or abnormal electrical brain wave activity, as well as a mutation in the gene that regulates BCAAs. In exome sequencing, researchers analyze all of the elements in the genome involved in making proteins.

In addition, the scientists examined cultured neural stem cells from these patients and found they behaved normally in the presence of BCAAs, suggesting the condition might be treatable with nutritional supplementation. They also studied a line of mice engineered with a mutation in the same gene, which showed the condition was both inducible by lowering the dietary intake of the BCAAs and reversible by raising the dietary intake. Mice treated with BCAA supplementation displayed improved neurobehavioral symptoms, reinforcing the idea that the approach could work in humans as well.
"Studying the animals was key to our discovery," said first author Gaia Novarino, PhD, a staff scientist in Gleeson's lab. "We found that the mice displayed a condition very similar to our patients, and also had spontaneous epileptic seizures, just like our patients. Once we found that we could treat the condition in mice, the pressing question was whether we could effectively treat our patients."
Using a nutritional supplement purchased at a health food store at a specific dose, the scientists reported that they could correct BCAA levels in the study patients with no ill effect. The next step, said Gleeson, is to determine if the supplement helps reduce the symptoms of epilepsy and/or autism in humans.
"We think this work will establish a basis for future screening of all patients with autism and/or epilepsy for this or related genetic mutations, which could be an early predictor of the disease," he said. "What we don't know is how many patients with autism and/or epilepsy have mutations in this gene and could benefit from treatment, but we think it is an extremely rare condition."

'Raaz 3': Bipasha shines in brutal supernatural take on Bollywood rat race

Film: "Raaz 3"; Starring: Bipasha Basu, Emraan Hashmi, Esha Gupta; Directed by: Vikram Bhatt Sehgal; Rating: **

"Voodoo karle saajna..." If your career starts to slip up, have no fear. Consult God. If He lets you down, consult his nearest rival Satan. Shake hands and even bed the devil, and you have an ally to work on your enemy.

So now we know why actresses in Bollywood can't get along. They are too busy sticking needles into one another's careers to focus on their own. Shanaya (Bipasha Basu), we are told at the outset without wasting time, is a top-notch actress on the downslide. Instead of drowning her defeat in drinks, she decides to smother her nearest rival, the upcoming Sanjana's (Esha Gupta) career, using her director-lover Aditya as a bait.

Writer Shagufta Rafique's screenplay is more of scream-play. The two actresses between them scream their lovely lungs out, as hands pop out of graves to lunge at shapely throats. Mirrors are broken and used to pierce satanic casualties and to track down ghouls which appear only in mirror images.

Just where Vikram Bhatt gets all this information on the dark side of the moon, we will never know. Presiding over the ritual of unmitigated evil is Satan in human form living in a slum that would give Danny Boyle an orgasm, wearing a suit that has seen better days, sitting on a forlorn chair parked in ankle-deep water.

This, I guess, is apocalypse in the other world. Hell, director Vikram Bhatt even throws in two seances where our hero - weak vulnerable ineffectual and uncertain as only Emraan Hashmi can be, enters to save Sanjana who is under a satanic attack.

The jealous Shanaya unleashes what could comfortably be called an orgy of gory violence on the other actress. If this is what the fear of failure does, then success be damned!

The Bhatts have never shied away from demonstrating onscreen brutality in its bloodiest form. "Raaz 3" is their biggest blood fest from the Bhatts after "Murder 2", which I feel, redefined screen violence.

"Raaz 3" is also not for the squeamish. The death of a poor house-help who dares to suggest to Sanjana that she might be a victim of "jadu-tona" (black magic), is particularly gruesome.

Now we know why kitchen staff is so hard to find in Mumbai.

Vikram Bhatt infuses a lot of shock value through the saturated soundtrack which keeps pounding and pelting sound effects, hammering the horror of a young vulnerable actress being destroyed by voodoo until we are left trembling and cowering in our seats. If the anti-satanic rituals don't wake up the dead, the soundtrack surely will.

Esha Gupta as Sanjana, is sincere and stark. She uses some of the horrific moments to soften the blow of the over-blown, like the one in the hotel washroom where she's attacked by scores of insects (a grotesque parody of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds") or that tender touching scene in the hospital where she says the best line of the film to Aditya (Hashmi) who has just confessed he has been helping Shanaya in her black magic and offers to redeem his soul by saving Sanjana.

"Ab mujhe bacha kar kya fayda jab mere paas ab bachaane ke liye kuch bacha hi nahin?" Sanjana whimpers.

In truth "Raaz 2" has its moments where horror melts into a kind of full-blown mythological tale. Aditya rescuing Sanjana from death is a clever gender-reversal of the Savitri-Sayavan mythology where the wife won back her husband from Yama, the God of death.

Here Satan in a soggy suit is played Manish Chaudhari who tries to make sense of the mumbo jumbo. It must have taken a demoniacal degree of self-control for the actor not to giggle when his characters challenges Shanaya with, "Tumhein mere saath wohi karna hoga jo ek aurat ek aadmi ke saath karti hai. Hai himmat?"

Get it? Shanaya quickly does.

It's Bipasha who holds together the feverish proceedings. She delivers a full-bodied gutsy performance. Pulling out all stops she plays the devil-woman out to kill competition by hook or by crook, pouring her soul into her character, making Shanaya's desperation her own.It is a brave and fearless performance conveying the trauma of a floundering career.

Every actress fears the competition would overtake her. Some go to the plastic surgeon. Others consult the nearest black magician.

Either way the outcome is inevitable. Evil can't win. At least not in our movies, Vikram Bhatt springs a spook spree that offers viewers the irresistible bait of horror and sex. You wait for the horror to get sexy. Instead the sex gets progressively horrific. No Satan or its messenger can be as scary as Emraan Hashmi chewing on his two heroines' lips as though he has just relinquished vegetarianism.

7 quick fix beauty tricks for busy mums

Mum’s quick beauty trick 1: Start from within

If you wake up looking pale and puffy instead of fabulous and fresh, it might be time to revaluate your eating plan. As much as you’re sick of hearing that ‘you are what you eat’ (because you’re a human being, not a jam sandwich), it’s true that healthy eating leads to a healthier appearance. Your body really does reflect what you eat and if you’re eating healthily your eyes will be brighter, your hair shinier, and your complexion will glow. Drink lots of water, get plenty of exercise, and eat a well balanced diet with plenty of fresh fruit and veg to compliment your complexion and boost your body’s beauty.

Mum’s quick beauty trick 2: Stock up on dry shampoo

Dry shampoo has got to be the best invention for busy mums since pushchairs and potties. Instead of going through the rigmarole of washing, drying, and styling your hair, dry shampoo allows you to go from untamed to good-to-go in less than 10 seconds. Simply spray a small amount through the roots of your hair, rub it in, and voila – your hair is feeling fresh and looking fab.

Mum’s quick beauty trick 3: Buff away dead skin

This is a super quick trick that will transform your skin from dry and dull to bright and beautiful in two minutes. Simply keep a good exfoliator – or some olive oil mixed with sugar, for a homemade option – in the bathroom to scrub your skin with during your bath or shower. This will remove all the dead skin cells that sit on top of your skin making it look dull. Lather a layer of moisturiser on afterwards and show off your enviable smooth skin.

Mum’s quick beauty trick 4: Take the time to tan

Subtle, sun-kissed skin can make you look and feel healthier and sexier, and it evens out skin tone too. Use a gradual tanner to build a light, even tan that you’re happy with and top up every couple of days depending on how dark you’d like it to be. Make sure you wear tanning mitts to avoid tell-tale orange hands as the tan develops.

Mum’s quick beauty trick 5: Use key beauty products

Beauty products that have more than one purpose allow us to cut corners without sacrificing how we look, which is great news for busy mums. For example, some nail varnishes on the market strengthen your nails as well as providing great colour, whilst blemish balm (or BB cream) moisturises, evens skin tone, and usually contains sun protection too. If you want to compliment your complexion without spending lots of time on it, just wash your face and apply blemish balm for moisturising coverage that won’t clog your pores. Once you’ve mastered a beautiful, natural complexion, add a slick of lip-gloss or tinted balm, and a dash of mascara if you fancy some eyelash va-va-voom. Well hello there yummy mummy!

Mum’s quick beauty trick 6: Speak to your stylist

A good haircut can dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes to get ready in the morning and to maintain your look throughout the day. Be honest with your stylist about how much time you have to style your hair and they should be able to give some advice on which is the best cut for you. Shoulder length hair tends to be the most low-maintenance style as you can sweep it into a ponytail on a bad hair day.

Mum’s quick beauty trick 7: Pre-book your beauty appointments

In between giving the little ones their breakfast, doing the grocery shop, changing nappies, and serving tea, mums have little time to pamper themselves. Before you know it, those once groomed eyebrows and lovely locks have turned into a mono-brow and a bunch of unsightly split ends. To prevent this from happening, make sure you book your treatments at the beauty salon in advance – this way you’re less likely to keep putting it off. Of course there will be the odd time you’ll need to cancel, but if you can keep it up as much as possible, you’ll feel like a much happier, more beautiful mummy. 

Climate change: The next ten years

WHAT's going to happen to the climate over the next 10 years or so? Is it time to buy that air conditioner you considered during the last heatwave? Should you rip up your garden and replant it with drought-resistant plants, or can you expect more rain - perhaps even floods - in your part of world? The other possibility, of course, is that your local climate will change little in the near future.

On the one hand we have weather predictions for the next few days. On the other we have climate forecasts for the very distant future. But what happens in the middle? Why don't we have forecasts for, say, 2010 or 2018? Knowing how temperature and rainfall will change over the next few years would be invaluable to many people, from farmers to the tourism industry to those in charge of our water supplies.

Kellie Pickler Shaves Head For Breast Cancer Pal

Country star Kellie Pickler is causing quite a buzz today after shaving off all her hair.

However, it's not a new look she's trying out, or a cry for help like Britney Spears' stunt back in 2007. It's quite the opposite actually.

She lost her locks as a show of solidarity to her best childhood friend, Summer Miller, who is battling breast cancer and starts chemotherapy tomorrow. Pickler refers to Miller as her "sister" and decided to undergo the hair buzzing yesterday in Nashville alongside Miller, who received her diagnosis this past June.

Pickler alluded to the big reveal of her new hairless self on her Twitter yesterday tweeting, "It's been a great life-changing day." She followed it up an hour later with a tweet stating, "Be sure to watch "Good Morning America" today morning (Sept 5th). You won't want to miss this!!! ;)"

Pickler sent us this exclusive video of the head shaving in action. She explained that Summer is only 35, and in addition to helping her friend through a tough time, she wanted to spread the message that early detection is key.

"Cancer does not discriminate," Pickler said in a statement to ABC News. "If this compels even one person to change their mentality toward waiting until the age of 40 for their mammogram, then it will be worth it," Miller added. 

Lady Gaga’s Extreme Photo Retouch Makeover for Vogue

Shine's fashion and beauty section has seen a lot of retouched photos over the years, and we've come to assume that unless an image of a model or celeb is specifically called out as being 100% organic it is actually chock full of artificial sweeteners and preservatives. Victoria's Secret models 15 pounds lighter/heavier? Yawn. Kim Kardashian with a 22-inch waist and no cellulite? Snore. Still, this behind-the-scenes snap of Lady Gaga being shot for the cover of September's Vogue shook us out of our jaded slumber.

The cover shows Gaga wearing an electric purple Marc Jacobs mermaid gown with her hair in a flaxen halo. Her face is lean and composed like an alabaster statue of an ancient Egyptian cat goddess, her bust perky, and her waist impossibly tiny--impossibly being the key word. "I'm a COVER GIRL, and its FAB" she tweeted when she leaked the image on August 8 in advance of its newsstand release.

A behind-the-scenes montage of the photo shoot released by Vogue and the photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott paints a different picture. The dress is bulky and unflattering, like she's been draped in granny's cranberry satin curtains from the 1982 parlor renovation. Her hair (a wig, in fact) is not so much a halo, but instead what would happen if an angel stuck her finger in a light socket. And her strong-featured face is not slim and placid but full and expressive. An article at Buzzfeed asks, when airbrushing is this extreme, why hire photographers at all? They point out that Vogue might as well have used a fashion illustration.

There has been a lot of news lately about young women demanding that magazines back off on photo retouching, but it appears that publications such as Vogue and some fashion-related companies are going in the other direction. The upscale retailer Barneys even super-slimmed MinnieMouse in a recent campaign. It's so refreshing when models and celebrities refuse to "go under the brush" and show their real faces and bodies. In fact, we think one of Gaga's most beautiful pictures is a selfie tweeted back in march when she let the world see her makeup and filter-free.

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Britney Spears’s Scandalous VMAs Snake: Where Is It Now?

As we count down the days to MTV's Video Music Awards, undoubtedly music's craziest and buzziest awards show, we of course think back to some of the VMAs' craziest and buzziest performances. And that means Britney Spears and her tangled tussle with a certain albino Burmese python, of course. The slinky performance, one of the sexiest in VMAs history, outraged PETA, was immortalized in Madame Tussaud's wax museum, and eventually earned the snake its own Tumbler account. And even Britney herself has that snake on the brain these days, as she recently tweeted regarding its whereabouts.  Sadly, it seems like Britney and her reptilian duet partner have lost touch since they graced the VMAs' stage 11 (yes, ELEVEN!) long years ago.

After posting a link to a photo of herself with the pale python, Britney later happily reported back that the snake is alive, and she finally revealed its name--a surprisingly adorable name, actually, for an animal with the potential ability to kill.

The timing of Britney's tweets was interesting--not only sparking speculation that she and Banana might reunite at the 2012 VMAs on September 6th (a reunion that would certainly go over better than a rumored Rihanna/Chris Brown VMAs duet), but speculation that a certain yellow serpent starring in a brand-new music video was in fact Britney's old scaly friend. You see, freak-pop indie darling Grimes released her "Genesis" video that very same week, and the snake draped around Grimes's delicate shoulders definitely bore a strong resemblance to Banana. Could it be that Grimes had actually coaxed Banana out of retirement for the video?

However, that gossip was soon shut down by Grimes herself, when in an interview with Pitchfork she said of her legless yellow "Genesis" co-star: "It's actually a different python. I wish it was the same python. I was specifically referencing [Britney's] performance in this video. That was one of Britney's best moments."

So...where could Banana be now? With no more Banana-centric tweets forthcoming from either Britney or Grimes, we set off on our own Animal Planet-esque mission to try to find him (or her?). Some research uncovered an identical Burmese python, also named Banana, living at Stump Hill Farm, an exotic animal sanctuary that frequently hires out its furry, feathered, and scaly friends for movies, photo shoots, and performances across the country. Huzzah!Banana had lost last been found! However, sadly, farm owner Cyndi Huntsman crushed our dreams and told us that Stump Hill's Banana is in fact NOT the same Banana that once slithered around Britney's toned torso. Cyndi also explained that it's fairly common for albino pythons to be christened "Banana" because of their bright yellow scales, and because the cute, fruity name makes them relatable to kids--and to pop stars, apparently. So perhaps in the future, Britney Spears can have a whole bunch of Bananas onstage with her. Maybe the Bananas can even get together and form a boy band. Kids would love that!

Considering that Burmese pythons can live to be more than 20 years old, Banana could still come out of hiding during the next decade of surely scandalous VMA awards shows. Will we ever see the original Banana again--maybe wrapping around One Direction, wriggling around Rihanna, cuddling Kanye, or biting Bieber? We shall see. But for now, the VMAs' new theme song seems to be "Yes, We Have No Bananas."

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