Birthday Party

Searching for a crafty way to celebrate your child's birthday or challenge your Scout troop or church group? How about a jewelry-making party? Girls and boys enjoy these creative get-togethers at the Bead Boutique in Irvine, a full-service bead shop where they may select from among 500 different beads, most of plastic, to make take-home trinkets at in-store worktables. The 90-minute parties, for 5- to 13-year-olds, are orchestrated by store owner Patricia Abahusayn.

CALGARY, Canada - Although Jerry Buss sold the Kings in the 1980s to focus on his ownership of the Lakers, the news of his death this week struck a chord in the hockey world. Charlie Simmer, who was a member of the Kings' famed Triple Crown line and is now an analyst on Calgary Flames TV broadcasts, said Tuesday he was saddened to hear of Buss' passing and offered his condolences to the Buss family. Simmer said he and Buss socialized “quite a bit,” and he had great respect for Buss' business sense.

It took Michael Henrichsen of Seattle two years, a website campaign and a few friends and celebrities to assist his cause.  But the payoff will come Friday when Billy Idol -- yes, that Billy Idol -- will turn up to play a charity fundraising concert and celebrate Henrichsen's birthday, all because Henrichsen decided that getting Idol to play at your birthday bash was a crazy idea that just might come true. According to reports , Henrichsen got the idea of trying to book the British pop-punk rocker after hearing the song "White Wedding" playing at the clothing store where Henrichsen worked.

Reeva Steenkamp, 30, the woman fatally shot in the home of double-amputee Olympian runner Oscar Pistorius, was a model and law-school graduate who was to give an inspirational talk Thursday at a Johannesburg school. On Twitter early Thursday morning, Steenkamp tweeted a message about her excitement about Valentine's Day. “What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow? It should be a day of love for everyone.” Steenkamp was one of FHM magazine's 100 Sexiest Women in the World for two years running, appeared in international and South African advertisements and was a celebrity contestant on "Tropika Island of Treasure," the South African version of "Survivor".

People with strabismus -- better known as being cross-eyed -- face many hurdles aside from their vision. Studies have shown that adults with the condition are less likely to be in a romantic relationship , less likely to have a job , and more likely to have "psychosocial problems. " One study of elementary school teachers found that they were biased against kids with the condition, scoring them lower than normal children on measures of health, happiness and ability to work hard.

Ronnie Peoples, a former financial advisor for former NFL quarterback Vince Young, said Young took out a seven-figure loan during the 2011 lockout in part because Young wanted to throw a $300,000 birthday party for himself. Peoples made the statement during a deposition for a case in which Young is challenging a $1.7-million judgment against him by Pro Player Funding LLC, a lender that specializes in lending to pro athletes. Young had borrowed $1.9 million at 20% interest from them in May 2011.

The devoted threw a party fit for a prince: There were dancers, singers and synchronized swimmers, not to mention unnamed foreign dignitaries -- all celebrating the 68th birthday Tuesday of Kim Jong Il, North Korea's glorious "Dear Leader." In Pyongyang, state-run media lauded a national hero "praised by mankind as the most outstanding political elder and the peerlessly brilliant commander of the present era." Outside the isolationist state, though, the take on Kim's milestone was a bit less breathless as analysts questioned his physical and mental health following a suspected stroke in 2008.

A 20-year-old Buena Park woman was stabbed during a late-night birthday party, police said Sunday. When officers arrived in the 5400 block of Pembury Drive just before midnight Saturday to find the woman suffering from a minor stab wound in her upper left chest. The victim, whose identity has not been released, identified her attacker as Sean MacNamara, a 19-year-old La Palma resident who had left the scene, said Police Sgt. Eric Nunez. Police arrested MacNamara after a brief search.

The "birthday" party for Mrs. Kemp, wife of VP candidate Jack Kemp in a Fillmore city park, billed as a historical event is a political event. Children were let out of the local public school to attend, and these kids were instructed to make signs of greeting. Persons of the opposing party were told they could not display partisan signs. That is unlawful, unconstitutional. Anybody can carry a picket style sign following the rules for doing so like "keep moving, don't block fire lanes, don't block entrances, etc."

Chinese President Yang Shangkun is among dignitaries traveling to the North Korean capital for President Kim Il Sung's 80th birthday celebration on Wednesday. While no one expects Kim to give up real power as long as he remains healthy, there has been speculation that the occasion may be used to transfer additional authority to his son and designated successor, Kim Jong Il.

Pete Rose is one of the most polarizing figures in baseball. Just the mention of his name can spark a huge debate on whether or not baseball's all-time hits leader deserves his lifetime ban from the sport for allegedly betting on games. Topps baseball cards has joined the debate -- without even mentioning Rose's name. In fact, the company has joined the debate by not mentioning his name. Rob Harris of the Chicagoside website wrote that Rose -- and apparently only Rose -- is left out of a new feature on the back of the 2013 cards.

Fred Couples wasn't trying to be cocky Wednesday when he said it: “There are some tournaments where I feel like people deserve to play and I feel like I deserve to be in this field. " Couples has won the Northern Trust twice in his career, in 1990 and 1992, and is an all-time fan favorite at Riviera Country Club. Couples, 53, is making his 31 st tournament appearance, more than any other player. He is not here this time on his golfing merits, however, playing on a sponsor's exemption.

Ronnie Peoples, a former financial advisor for former NFL quarterback Vince Young, said Young took out a seven-figure loan during the 2011 lockout in part because Young wanted to throw a $300,000 birthday party for himself. Peoples made the statement during a deposition for a case in which Young is challenging a $1.7-million judgment against him by Pro Player Funding LLC, a lender that specializes in lending to pro athletes. Young had borrowed $1.9 million at 20% interest from them in May 2011.

Swedish golfer Daniela Holmqvist said she was bitten by a black widow spider while playing in a a pre-qualifier for the LPGA's ISPS Handa Australian Open in Yarralumla, Australia, on Wednesday. Holmqvist said she was bitten around her sock line on the fourth hole. She said she felt a sharp pain before swatting away the spider. Her caddy recognized it as a black widow, which are prevalent around the course, though apparently this is the first time one has bitten a golfer. "When I told the local caddies in my group what had happened, they got very upset and said it was a black widow, and immediately started looking for their phones to call the medics," Holmqvist told Golf Digest.

All went well on the recent school outing to the tall-masted ship, which I helped chaperon. I had to pull only three kids from the water, and two of them were easy because the shark had just spit them out -- pit-ewwwwwey -- and I was able to snag them in the air, in sort of mid-somersault. Pit-ewwwwwey ... gotcha. The third kid, Snot, was a little trickier because he was covered in the traditional fourth-grade goo of Cocoa Puffs, grape juice and chocolate-flavored mucus. "Yum," thought the shark, which released him only when I explained that fourth-grade boys cause vomiting and trichinosis in most sea creatures.

It took Michael Henrichsen of Seattle two years, a website campaign and a few friends and celebrities to assist his cause.  But the payoff will come Friday when Billy Idol -- yes, that Billy Idol -- will turn up to play a charity fundraising concert and celebrate Henrichsen's birthday, all because Henrichsen decided that getting Idol to play at your birthday bash was a crazy idea that just might come true. According to reports , Henrichsen got the idea of trying to book the British pop-punk rocker after hearing the song "White Wedding" playing at the clothing store where Henrichsen worked.

President Clinton celebrated his 49th birthday Saturday with golf and a "surprise" birthday party reported nationwide before it happened. The President's party was at the 135-acre estate of World Bank President James Wolfensohn. "He was as surprised as anyone can be after having the surprise reported in the national and local press," said White House spokeswoman Ginny Terzano, who relayed details of the private party to waiting reporters.

Carla Laemmle lived a fairy tale existence after she and her parents moved to the Universal Studios lot in 1921 when she was 11. Her father, Joseph, was the brother of Universal Studios chief Carl Laemmle and when Joseph's health began to fail, Carl invited the family to leave Chicago and live on the lot because the climate would be better in California. "There were two houses with a long front lawn and a little hospital," recalled Carla Laemmle, who is celebrating her 103rd birthday Saturday with a party at the Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre.

I spent a lot of birthdays with John Rovick, who passed away Saturday at the age of 93, although only a few of them were mine. There was a birthday party every day on "Sheriff John's Lunch Brigade," the Los Angeles kids' show Rovick hosted on KTTV for 17 years (alongside another show, "Sheriff John's Cartoon Time," he hosted for 18), which is to say there were birthday wishes read out to young viewers by name, there was a cake, which never got eaten, and there was a song. That song, which begins "Put another candle on my birthday cake" and ends "I'm another year old today" -- in between there was "pie and sandwiches and chocolate ice cream, too" -- is one of the few things in this world I know by heart.