Etc...

Here's my contribution

What do film star Sandra Bullock, Russian tennis pro Maria Sharapova, and the personal chef to former Chinese President Jiang Zemin have in common? Answer: All three are among the donors to tsunami relief in Indian Ocean nations. Bullock ($1 million) and Sharapova ($10,000) you may already have heard about, but Jiang's chef? Peng Gaofa is already well into a 10-day fund-raiser for survivors of the Dec. 26 disaster, perhaps the costliest in history. Peng, who's on loan to a Hong Kong restaurant, is serving 13-course banquets - at $380 each - to a dozen gourmands per day, with all proceeds going to the Red Cross. He's off to a fast start, too. All places at the table have been sold, and Wing Lai Yuen Szechuan Noodle House is considering extending the program.

Seattle: title town, and not just for coffee or software

For people who prefer an active over a sedentary lifestyle, Seattle may be the ideal American city. The editors of Men's Fitness magazine seem to think so. In the February issue, they name Seattle the fittest city in their nonscientific, seventh annual Fattest and Fittest Cities Report. The staff found that Seattle's gyms and sporting goods stores outnumber fast-food restaurants. It also looked at roughly a dozen other factors, among them air quality, public parks, fast-food restaurants per capita, and TV-watching. The city that has all but retired the trophy as MF's fattest: Houston, which has secured the distinction for the fourth time in the last five years. The fittest and fattest cities:

Fittest cities

1. Seattle
2. Honolulu
3. Colorado Springs, Colo.
4. San Francisco
5. Denver

Fattest cities

1. Houston
2. Philadelphia
3. Detroit
4. Memphis, Tenn.
5. Chicago
- Associated Press

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