Razors

More razor blades were found on local playgrounds Wednesday, this time at a city park and at a preschool here. The latest incidents brought to eight the number of such discoveries in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa since late March, police said. Three blades were found on a playground slide at Las Arenas Park in the 1500 block of West Balboa Boulevard about 9 a.m. Wednesday, and three more were found at 6 a.m.

This story starts at a point in time that most observers predicted it would end. The year was 2002. The Internet party was long over. Pets.com and other high-flying digital darlings were defunct. It was the dark days for the few survivors of the dot-com bubble, and Razorfish was barely hanging on. The brash online ad agency that had come to symbolize the arrogance and frivolity of the era had slashed its staff from 1,800 employees to just 230. The company was sold for $8.2 million - a minuscule fraction of its $4.2-billion market value just two years before.

Electric razors that had been rigged with explosives blew up in the faces of two men, wounding both, authorities said Thursday. Federal and local investigators urged shoppers to be careful when buying electric razors, and to call authorities if they see a razor left in a public place. "There is a very strong possibility that there are other razors out there," Sheriff Dan Keating said. Keating added that the razors had been similarly rigged.

Hugh Jackman was accosted by a razor-toting Bakersfield woman Saturday morning at a New York City gym. The woman, 47-year-old Katherine Thurston, reportedly ran into Jackman outside his gym and said, "We're going to get married, right?" before making her way inside, shouting that she loved him and taking an electric razor out of a bag, according to the New York Post . After losing hold of the razor and being told to leave, she fled and was arrested several blocks away. She was then charged with stalking, police told CNN . The razor reportedly fell out of her hands after a trainer from the gym stepped between Thurston and Jackman.

Skin types and conditions make shaving a particularly individual act. And, while determining what is best for your face may still be partly trial and error, skin health shouldn't be left to the whims of fate. In fact, a little information and historical knowledge will save those new at shaving from some unkind cuts. Choosing the Right Tool Disposable razor: Throw away when cutting edge becomes dull or rusted.

Razor blades, box cutters and other sharp objects have been found in the Lennox Park sandbox, county authorities said. Employees at the county park at 10828 Mansel Ave. found the objects near the slides, swings and monkey bars, said Sgt. Gia Neil of the county Sheriff's Department's Lennox Station. The first discovery was made about three weeks ago. No injuries have been reported, but authorities are urging caution and are trying to alert families to the potential hazards.

Razor blades on swings, slides and in sandboxes were found at Newport Beach playgrounds in a city park and at a preschool Wednesday, officials said. Since late March, razor blades have been found at eight playgrounds in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. No injuries have been reported.

On his deathbed, George Washington, the childless father of this country, was bled repeatedly by a zealous barber-surgeon. While bloodletting is no longer part of most barbers' routines, continued mistrust of the profession of knife-wielders may have convinced modern fathers to take matters into their own hands--with electric shavers and safety razor blades.

A 21-year-old Mission Viejo woman accused of planting razor blades and other sharp objects at playgrounds in south Orange County pleaded not guilty Monday to the 18 counts filed against her. Appearing in a blue jail jumpsuit with her hair tied back in a ponytail, Lori Elizabeth Fischer looked down throughout the hearing at South Justice Center in Laguna Niguel, where she has been charged with multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon and attempted child abuse.

Razors and razor blades have many uses, from personal hygiene to cutting a sewing stitch to opening a cardboard box sealed with heavy-duty tape. But the razor took a long time to evolve to its present multifaceted use. That ancient man shaved is certain (conceivably with sharp-edged seashells or rocks); barbers were mentioned in antiquity, as was the shaving of heads. But not until the Middle Ages was a specific implement identified as a razor.

Many high-quality electric shavers adapt to different electrical currents for charging during international travel, but they usually require adapters for different-shaped wall outlets. The diminutive new ShaveTech shaver doesn't need any of that rigmarole because it charges with a standard USB port. The shaver, which is about the size of a cellphone, has a flip-open USB plug so you can charge it anywhere using your computer (although the computer itself may need an adapter). Many hotel rooms contain desks with built-in USB ports, and of course some have ports for U.S. appliances, though wattage is usually restricted.

Jail couldn't keep Israel Keyes out of trouble, not even with himself. The prolific serial killer had already been caught and jailed by authorities months ago for his final butchery -- the kidnapping and slaying of 18-year-old Anchorage barista Samantha Koenig, one of the eight people he'd alluded to killing over years of attacks across the country. But a new report released this week by the Alaska Department of Corrections detailed the extent to which the 34-year-old construction worker continued to cause trouble with his captors even as he cooperated with investigators working to discover whom he'd killed.

We can put men on the moon. We can make computers small enough to carry around in our pockets. But we can't make a razor blade that stays sharp longer than a week? It sounds trivial. But the utter lack of progress on the razor front raises fundamental questions about America's industrial might. Has the sun set on the age of innovation in this country? Is it possible that American ingenuity has met its match in a relatively modest personal-hygiene product used by millions of consumers?

NEW YORK - A few hours before Superstorm Sandy struck two weeks ago, Stefano Barbagallo locked up Barbarini, the red-brick cafe he co-owns in Lower Manhattan's South Street Seaport. By the time he returned, the place was finished. Floodwaters had reached to nearly 6 feet, wiping clear the chalkboard that marked the specials. A refrigerator had floated down the block. Tens of thousands of dollars in inventory - meats, cheeses, wines and olive oil - were destroyed. Seven years of work and an investment of $1 million seemed to have vanished.

Menfolk around the world are growing out their facial hair this month to raise awareness for prostate cancer efforts - a hirsute affair known as Movember . This is fantastic news for men's health advocates, some of whom participate in a similar effort dubbed No Shave November, but notably less awesome for companies such as razor makers and barbershops that deal in scruff removal. During the month, such businesses have the tricky task of marketing products and services that much of their target audience has sworn not to use. Gillette is facing the month full on, launching the eMO'ge ncy Styler Tour to offer free mustache fine-tuning in select cities.

TAMPA, Fla. - Even as the lion's share of attention in the presidential campaign goes to the battleground of Ohio and the storm-battered states of the Mid-Atlantic, the outcome to the south, in the nation's largest swing state, now seems very much in doubt. Mitt Romney moved into a lead here after the first presidential debate, and since then, aides have insisted that Florida, with its 29 electoral votes, sat solidly in their column. But with several polls showing President Obama's fortunes improving here and Democrats performing well in early voting - as of Thursday morning, they led by about 59,000 out of more than 3 million absentee and in-person early votes - Romney has had to devote precious hours to defending his position in the state.

For a month now, someone has been lurking in the shadows of several Costa Mesa and Newport Beach parks, leaving behind single-edged razor blades around swings, sandboxes and slides. Seven blades have been found, mostly by parents playing with their children. No one has been cut, but the discoveries have caused concern. Many parents are restricting their children to backyard play, and dog owners too are avoiding the parks.

Since Morgan Spurlock is known for fully immersing himself in his movies - famously subsisting onMcDonald's menu items for "Super Size Me" and pounding the pavement for every last product placement dollar in "The Greatest Story Ever Sold" - it seemed only appropriate to ask the man behind"Mansome" about his go-to grooming products and tools, most of which happen to come from boutique shaving brand the Art of Shaving, which signed on to sponsor the...

A Santa Monica start-up wants to take the financial pain out of shaving. Dollar Shave Club is a new membership-only website that promises to "shave time, shave money" by sending customers a shipment of razor blades automatically every month. The company estimates that it will save members as much as $292 a year on shaving. "For a very long time people have been flummoxed by the price of brand-name razors, so they hang on to their blades for longer than they should and milk their blades," company co-founder and Chief Executive Michael Dubin said.