iPod Generation Hearing Sounds Of Silence SoonerBOSTON -- Rock music helped define the Baby Boomer generation, but years of loud concerts have also caused many Boomers to lose their hearing at an early age.
Boston television station WCVB reported that some experts say the iPod generation may be hearing the sounds of silence even earlier than their parents.
When the members of the Lexington, Mass., band Tracy Strangelove aren't rocking out on their instruments, they're listening to rock music on their digital music players.
"I listen to it on the bus ride home, when I'm walking around, sometimes between classes," band member Lucas Levy said.
The enormous popularity of digital music players has Boston Children's Hospital audiologist Dr. Brian Fligor concerned.
"More people have these systems. Now, given that there will be a larger number of people who choose to listen at high levels for long enough periods of time (this) can cause a problem," Fligor said.
What makes digital music players so popular also makes them more dangerous to your ears -- digital sound that doesn't distort when you turn it up, the station reported.
"I guess I'm listening to it like eight or nine-tenths of the way up, which probably isn't great, but that's what I like to do," band member Dan Garmon said.
With a digital music player, thousands of songs are right at your fingertips, which means there's no break for your ears. Over time, that can damage the delicate hair cells in the inner ear that transmit sound to the brain. But the damage isn't seen and won't really be felt for years.
"It didn't even occur to me that it would be harmful," Lucas said.
A recent study in the journal Pediatrics found 61 percent of teens said they had experienced ringing in their ears or other hearing problems. Only 14 percent said they used ear protection.
Fligor recommends you keep your listening level to 80 decibels or less -- on a one to 10 scale, that's about a six. Anything above that -- limit your time listening to avoid damage.
"I'm not saying don't use these. You know what? I love mine. I listen to mine, and I personally enjoy listening to it kind of loud, but I also know how long I can listen to it when I am listening at louder levels," Fligor said.
As for the in-ear headphones made so popular by the Apple iPod, Fligor said that they don't damage your hearing any more than the kind that rest on top of your ears. Loudness and length of listening time are what matter -- whether you're listening to Mozart or Metallica.
Superman's bulge worries movie bossesThe new Superman is giving movie bosses a headache - because of the size of his bulge.
They fear Brandon Routh's profile in the superhero's skintight costume could be distracting, reports the Sun.
Hollywood executives have ordered the makers of Superman Returns to cover it up with digital effects.
The Sun's source said: "It's a major issue for the studio. Brandon is extremely well endowed and they don't want it up on the big screen.
"We may be forced to erase his package with digital effects."
Brandon, 26, has taken over the superhero's cape from the late Christopher Reeve.
Wardrobe artists have had to fit him with a special codpiece for the new film out next year.
Prostitute tells all in bestsellerSAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - Just two months ago, Raquel Pacheco was making a living as a high-end call girl, turning tricks with up to five men a day in an apartment in a swank neighborhood of Sao Paulo, Latin America's financial hub.
Back then she went by her nom de guerre, Bruna Surfistinha, or Bruna the Surfer Girl. She has since left the business and become a best-selling author who spends her days rushing to interviews, promoting her book on the radio and appearing on late-night TV talk shows.
Her book, "The Sweet Venom of the Scorpion: The Diary of a Call Girl," is a vivid account of the three years that the 21-year-old Pacheco spent selling her body for money. Written in the slang of a middle-class teen-ager from Sao Paulo, it is part diary, part blog and even offers how-to tips for readers looking to spice up their sex lives.
In just over a month, it has sold some 30,000 copies and is already in its third edition -- a huge success in a country where only a fraction of the population reads books. It also ranks third on Brazil's bestseller list for nonfiction books, neck and neck with international hits like "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.
Though Brazil is the world's largest Roman Catholic country, sex is far from a taboo subject. Brazilians of all social classes frequently flaunt their sexuality, donning skimpy clothing even in formal settings. X-rated magazines hang in plain sight at newsstands. The government distributes free condoms as part of its AIDS prevention program. And prostitution is legal, although pimping is not.
Still, the book's success was a surprise to Pacheco, who turned to prostitution after running away from home when she was 17 and now lives with her boyfriend, a former customer.
"I thought people would be curious, not necessarily about my life, but about the life of a call girl," she said. "But I didn't think the reaction would be like this. I never thought I would be famous."
FROM BLOG TO BOOK
In truth, Pacheco was already flirting with fame before her book. Lonely and eager to vent, she started writing about her experiences with customers in a blog that became so popular it was profiled in several Brazilian magazines. These days the site (http://www.brunasurfistinha.com/blogs/) rarely focuses on sexual escapades, but it still gets about 20,000 hits a day.
It was the blog that drew publishers to Pacheco, who had boasted on the site that she was writing a book. She rejected three offers to put her story in print before finally signing with a small publishing house called Panda Books, which hired a journalist to help her organize her ideas into a book.
"Once I started reading the blog, I was hooked," said Marcelo Duarte, the book's publisher. "It had all the ingredients of a good soap opera -- family drama, love stories and lots of sex."
Duarte thought it would be popular with men, but he did not imagine that the story of a prostitute would be such a big hit with women, who have been buying the book in droves.
Still, Rosely Sayao, a psychologist who studies sexual behavior, said the book's popularity among women makes sense.
"The idea of a call girl, of a prostitute, is something that many women fantasize about," she said. "Women want to be a lover to their partner, and in many people's minds, a prostitute is someone who knows how to be the perfect lover."
The book has also raised eyebrows overseas. Duarte is in talks to publish it in Portugal and Spain, and is entertaining offers to sell the rights to turn it into a movie.
That possibility prompted one Brazilian web site to ask its readers in a survey who should play Pacheco on the big screen. The top pick was soap opera star Mel Lisboa, who became famous playing a teen-age vixen who seduced an older man.
With money in the bank and a bestseller on her resume, Pacheco says she plans to finish high school and go to college to study psychology. She also wants to find a job but worries she will have a hard time getting hired because of her past.
"I don't know if I'm going to be accepted," she said. "Even though I'm not a prostitute anymore, in some people's eyes I still am."
