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Q: Is Lynn Johnston retiring, or are some papers simply discontinuing "For Better or For Worse"? If she is retiring, may we please have an address for writing her a "thank you" note. Her cartoons have been my favorite for many years.
A: Johnston originally announced plans to retire but changed her mind. On Sept. 1, she began retelling the story of the Pattersons from the beginning.
In "new-runs" the strip will feature a mix of new and old. In press releases and a YouTube video Johnston has said, "Everything in September is new ..." and in the first year the strip will be at least 50 percent new. The strip is still called "For Better Or Worse."
You can write to Johnston at: FBorFW.com, P.O. Box 100, Corbeil, Ontario, Canada, P0H 1K0.
Q: Wasn't Joe Biden in the news a while back for having a hair transplant? What is the story?
A: U.S. Sen. Joe Biden's hair transplants are old news. Reports of the Delaware Democrat doctoring his hair go back to the 1980s, but exactly how long ago he had the hair procedure has been his private secret. He refused to say when the Washington Post asked him in 1987.
Stylists and hair transplant surgeons told Politico.com that photographic evidence indicates Biden did have some scalp surgery in the 1980s. According to a Politico.com survey of hair transplant experts, Senator Joe Biden did have some scalp surgery in the 1980s, judging by photographic evidence. The pattern of Biden's hairline, according to a surgeon from the Midwest who refused to be identified, did not follow the normal path of baldness. The stylists Politico spoke to thought the work had turned out well, but were not enamored with Biden's haircut.
Q: What is former Olympic swimmer Mark Spitz doing now?
A: Mark Spitz, 58, is a stockbroker and motivational speaker. He lives in the Bel Air area of Los Angeles with his wife and two children. Spitz has dabbled in Hawaiian real estate and made product endorsements for Xerox, Kodak, General Motors and many other companies and has just written a memoir.
In 2000, Spitz was voted Athlete of the Century in water sports and one of the six greatest Olympians ever by Sports Illustrated. Recently, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) selected Spitz as one of its five athletes of the century.
Spitz, who wasn't invited by Olympic officials to Beijing to witness Michael Phelps break his record of seven gold medals, was generous in his praise of Phelps, who broke his record of seven gold medals, calling him "the greatest swimmer of all time and the greatest Olympian of all time."
Q: What is the difference between cement and concrete?
A: The terms cement and concrete often are used interchangeably and incorrectly. Cement is the gray powder that comes in bags. Concrete is the combination of cement, water, sand and gravel.
Cement is made from limestone and clay that is crushed, heated and ground into a powder. When mixed with water, it sets. Concrete is a structural material consisting of an aggregate — usually sand and gravel — that is bonded together by cement and water. Concrete has great strength and can adapt to virtually any form. It is fire resistant and one of the most common building materials in the world.
Q: Can you tell me the legal status of Cat Stevens since he was arrested for some type of terroristic charge?
A: Yusuf Islam, the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, was never arrested. He was denied entry into the United States in 2004 because his name showed up on a terrorist watch list. In 2005, Islam won a lawsuit against two British newspapers that suggested he had links to terrorists.
As Cat Stevens, he sold more than 60 million albums with hits including "Peace Train," "Wild World" and "Moonshadow." In the late 1970s, he adopted the Muslim faith and changed his name. In 2006, "An Other Cup" was his first pop album since his conversion. Islam spends most of his time in his native London and also in Dubai. He has visited the United States several times since the 2004 incident.
Q: What are the women's schools that used to be called he Seven Sisters? Are any still in existence or have they all merged with men's schools?
A: The Seven Sisters, northeastern schools that were originally a consortium of liberal arts colleges for women are Vassar and Barnard in New York; Wellesley, Smith, Mount Holyoke and Radcliffe in Massachusetts; and Bryn Mawr in Pennsylvania. The Endowment Campaign of the Seven Colleges in 1928 united the schools in their effort to raise money to provide educational opportunities for women that equaled the best men's colleges at that time. Of the original seven, Radcliffe is part of Harvard; Vassar went coed in 1969; and Bryn Mawr and Smith admit men to their graduate programs.
Q: What do the five circles for the Olympics stand for?
A: The Olympic symbol of five interlocking rings represents the union of the five inhabited continents (North and South America are treated as one) and the meeting of the athletes at the Olympic Games. Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympic Committee, designed and commissioned the Olympic flag on June 23, 1914 in Paris to mark the 20th anniversary of the IOC's founding.
The six colors including the white background came from the colors in all the national flags at the time of its design. A survey conducted in six countries in 1995 showed 92 percent of those questioned correctly identified the Olympic rings.
Q: How did the days of the week get their names?
A: The names of the days of the week originated with the Greeks in honor of their gods. Later, the Romans substituted their own gods. The English names derived from Latin or Anglo-Saxon interpretation.
Sunday was dedicated to the sun; Monday was the day of the Moon; and Tuesday was for Mars, the Roman god of war, or Ares, the Greek god of war. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday came from northern European deities — Woden or Odin, the chief god; Thor, god of Thunder; and Freya or Fria, goddess of love, beauty and fertility. Saturday simply means Saturn's day, from the Roman deity of that name.
Q: What ever happened to Christina Crawford, adopted daughter of the late actress Joan Crawford and author of "Mommie Dearest"?
A: Christina Crawford is reissuing her best-selling "Mommie Dearest" this year with a new introduction and afterword, testimonies from contemporaries and photographs that were cut from the 1978 edition. One of the first celebrity tell-alls, the book helped bring scrutiny to the once-hidden subjects of child abuse and alcoholism.
Crawford has written several books on child abuse and is now an advocate for adoptees' right. She has appeared in theater, films, television and commercials and was host-narrator for the Los Angeles-area Emmy Award-winning documentary, "Once Abused, Now Accused." She produces and hosts a regional weekly TV show, "Entertainment Northwest." She has been married three times and lives in rural Idaho. She has no children.
Q: Did they ever find Glenn Miller's plane when it went down?
A: On Dec. 15, 1944, Maj. Alton Glenn Miller, U.S. Army Air Corps, boarded a military flight from England to Paris. Flight Officer John Morgan, the pilot, took off despite the foggy weather. The plane never reached France, and no trace of the plane was ever found. Miller's fate has been the topic of much speculation, including theories ranging from bad weather to an accidental hit by British bombers jettisoning their payloads.
During World War II, Glenn Miller's Army Air Force Band entertained more than 1 million troops. Maj. Miller combined military and musical precision to create a band which many say was even better than his civilian band. Considered the father of modern military music, Miller was awarded a Bronze Star and has a memorial headstone in Arlington National Cemetery.
Q: There are a couple of intersections near me that have signs saying "No Jake Brakes." What exactly are Jake Brakes?
A: A Jake Brake is an "engine retarder," a device that helps large diesel vehicles slow down with little use of conventional brakes. The power of the engine is harnessed to help slow down instead of speeding up.
Though these devices are made by more than one company, products made by what is now Jacobs Vehicle Systems were the first, in 1961, and are the best-known. "Jake Brake" is a registered trademark of the company.
Some communities have outlawed the use of such brakes because of noise complaints. Jacobs maintains that properly installed and maintained retarders meet federal noise requirements. For more info, check out www.akebrake.com/about-us/.
Q: What has become of the former Olympic gymnast Dominique Moceanu?
A: Moceanu, 1996 Olympic gold medalist, is studying business management at John Carroll University in Cleveland and coaching part time at a gymnastics club. She married a former Ohio State University gymnast, Michael Canales, in 2006, and gave birth to their first child Dec. 25, 2007. Moceanu and her fellow gymnasts from 1996 were inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame this summer. Moceanu has recently spoken out against USA Gymnastics team coordinator Martha Karolyi and her husband Bela. She told HBO that elite gymnastics has a "dark side" and coaches Bela and Martha Karolyi have created an atmosphere of grueling, physical stress and mandated outrageous dietary restrictions on gymnasts at their training camps.
In October 1998, Moceanu became a legal adult after filing a protective order against her father.