Queen Elizabeth faces wait for palace repairs

(MILLION, ROYAL, PALACE, POUNDS, GOVERNMENT, BUCKINGHAM, WOULD)

By Tim Castle
LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Queen Elizabeth faces a long wait for repairs to the roof of Buckingham Palace unless the government stumps up extra cash, royal accounts showed on Monday.
Her treasurer, Alan Reid, said a backlog of "essential" maintenance would reach 40 million pounds over the next decade if there is no increase in annual funding.
Key projects facing at least a 10-year wait include the 13 million pounds renewal of lead and slate roofs at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, and the 4.5 million pound refurbishment of state rooms at both properties.
Also facing a decade of delays are replacements to the palace`s heating and electricity services, as well as the replacement of aging cast iron and lead Victorian water mains at the castle.
Reid, known as the Keeper of the Privy Purse, said royal officials would continue to negotiate with the government "to improve the assessment of the additional funding required."
The government would have to increase support to 19 million pounds a year from 15 million to avoid the backlog, a senior Buckingham Palace source told Reuters.
But with Britain suffering its most severe economic downturn for 60 years, extra taxpayer funds for the royals may be hard for the government to justify.
A parliamentary committee said earlier this month the queen should open Buckingham Palace more often to tourists to help raise money for repairs, a recommendation royal officials are studying.
The government covers the cost of the royal family`s official duties in return for the queen surrendering the revenue from royal property held by Crown Estate and other hereditary sources, which reached 211 million pounds in 2007.
Royal expenditure rose 1.5 percent to 41.5 million pounds in the last financial year, after allowing for inflation.
Reid said this was equivalent to just 69 pence per person in Britain, a rise of 3 pence over the year before.
But anti-monarchist pressure group Republic said the comparison was meaningless, adding that the published expenditure did not include the cost of security.
"Every year the palace press office tries to justify the cost of the monarchy by dividing the official figure by 60 million," said Republic spokesman Graham Smith.
"With that sort of accounting you can justify pretty much anything."
(Editing by Steve Addison)
Original article

Centenarians show it`s never too late to tweet

(PERCENT, CENTENARIANS, NEW, EVERCARE, THEIR, WOULD, LONGEVITY)

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Celebrities and hip adults aren`t the only people flocking to Twitter, the social-networking site. Even centenarians have learned to tweet.
Three percent of U.S. centenarians questioned in a new survey said they use the service that allows users to send short text messages, or tweets, of up to 140 characters at least once a week to keep in touch with their friends and family.
Another 10 percent sent emails to stay connected, 12 percent shared photos on the Internet and four percent downloaded music from the web.
"They are using new technologies, staying abreast of news and current events, and engaging in social networking -- all of which help to prevent chronic illnesses and contribute to greater longevity," said Dr Mark Leenay, the senior medical director and vice president of clinical affairs at Evercare, said in a statement.
The results of the survey of 100 centenarians commissioned by Evercare, one of the nation`s largest care coordination programs, challenge the stereotypes of aging.
Forget passing the day in a rocking chair. Fifty percent of centenarians keep fit by walking or hiking, eight percent prefer cycling and three percent break into a jog or run. One percent said they have tried Nintendo`s Wii Fit.
More than a quarter said they chatted on a cell phone at least once a week.
To keep their minds as agile as their bodies, 19 percent played a musical instrument or turned to a musical video game for entertainment or a mental workout.
Nearly 65 percent would dine with comedian Bill Cosby if given the opportunity to invite a celebrity to dinner.
If stranded on a desert island, two percent said they would want an iPod with them.
Evercare said the findings support the belief that a person`s longevity is based primarily on a person`s lifestyle rather than genetics.
More than 84,000 centenarians are living in the United States today. The number is expected to increase to 580,000 by 2040, according to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Original article

Ancient Westminster Abbey may be crowned

(THERE, ABBEY, WHICH, PLANS, CORONATION, QUEEN, GALLERY)

By Stefano Ambrogi
LONDON (Reuters) - Almost every British and English monarch has been crowned there since 1066 and now, if architects have their way, London`s Westminster Abbey could have a crowning glory all of its own.
Radicaldesign plans unveiled Monday by the Dean of the ancient church include building a large crown-shaped structure, or corona, on the roof of the abbey right over the coronation spot in front of the high altar.
Founded in 960 AD by Saint Dunstan, the medieval abbey has seen extensive additions and alterations ever since, but remains in parts unfinished.
The latest proposals, which the Dean of Westminster the Very Reverend John Hall says are dramatic, are the most significant changes to the national monument in some 250 years.
The corona would replace the small plain pyramid roof on top of the "lantern" which was rebuilt in 1958 to repair war damage.
"No one ever got round to doing anything over the lantern. They asked the question; they drew up designs: there was going to be a tower and a spire at one point -- that was Christopher Wren," Hall told BBC Radio.
"There was going to be a sort of great pepper pot -- that was Nicholas Hawksmoor, and George Gilbert Scott in the 19th century had other ideas as well," said Hall who has been in touch with Queen and Buckingham Place over the plans.
"The abbey was never complete -- there is nothing above there apart from a stumpy little tower, which doesn`t do any honor to this extraordinary place," he said.
Hall said he wanted the new architectural feature to reflect the coronation underneath "that would lift the eye and lift the spirits and floodlight down into the space" where kings and queens are crowned.
It is hoped the structure will be ready in time to mark the diamond jubilee of the Queen`s coronation in 2013.
Building proposals also include provision for a lift on the south face of the Abbey outside Poets Corner to give visitors access to the upper gallery for the first time.
The gallery, known as the Triforium, will house a new museum and display many of its unseen treasures and artefacts.
English poet John Betjeman once described the view from there as the best in Europe. T
The British public are being invited to comment on the plans, which are estimated to cost 23 million pounds.
(Editing by Steve Addison)
Original article

Aficionados shop for world`s most exclusive watches

(WATCHES, WATCH, COLLECTORS, FINE, BETHUNE, EXCLUSIVE, LUXURY)

By David Brough
LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Collectors gathered on Monday to shop for some of the world`s most unique watches in an event organized by a group of blogging enthusiasts.
Dozens of watch aficionados came from around the world to William & Son, a luxury boutique in London`s elegant Mayfair district, to admire the world`s most exclusive watch specimens, with some on offer at well over 100,000 pounds ($165,000) each.
The typical ultra-wealthy buyer of exclusive brands such as De Bethune, F.P. Journe, Romain Gauthier and Moser, has "graduated" from major watch brands like Rolex and Omega and now seeks something rarer, collectors attending the event said.
"The watches collector has a Bentley in his garage and a Picasso on his wall, but when he walks into the office, he wants to wear something unique, a work of art," said David Witkover, North American agent for Swiss-based De Bethune.
"It is understated elegance."
He showed off the platinum-cased De Bethune Dream Watch 1, featured as "Best of the Best" in the June edition of luxury magazine the Robb Report.
The $123,600 DW1`s balance wheel is made of silicon ringed with platinum, an innovation delivering high performance.
FINE WATCHES, FINE WINES
Nicolas Fondaneche of PuristSPro.com, which showcases blogs on top watches and helped organize the event, said collecting superb watches is similar to connoisseurship of fine wines.
"When you begin to try wine, you may love it, but you can`t tell the difference between a 50-euro wine and a 5,000-euro wine," he said.
The global recession has hit demand for exclusive timepieces, but serious collectors will never lose interest, and it is up to manufacturers to price watches competitively, said Daniel Zimmermann, sales director of H. Moser & Cie.
"The market place has become more difficult," he said.
"The previous two years (of boom) were crazy," he added, in a reference to the spending spree led by finance industry professionals before the banking crisis hit hard.
William Asprey, owner of William & Son, which has emerged in the decade since luxury group Aspreys was sold, demonstrated watches owned by him and his forebears, including a gold Patek Philippe pocket watch, a 1920s Reverso that belonged to his grandfather, and a 1960s Audemars Piguet skeleton watch.
These were not for sale, but caught the collectors` eye.  Continued...
Original article

Giant metal "scribble" fills London`s Tate gallery

(DUVEEN, GALLERIES, FLOOR, WHICH, WOULD, CORNERS, OFFER)

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Last year it was a runner sprinting the length of the neo-Classical Duveen Galleries every minute at London`s Tate Britain museum.
This year`s Duveens Commission, by Irish-born artist Eva Rothschild, takes the form of a giant, 80-meter (263 ft) long tangle of black metal triangles which move across the gallery floor and soars above its stone columns.
Likened variously to a giant spider, bolt of lightning and angular scribble, viewers can walk around, through and under the 26 towering triangles, which barely touch the floor and are connected to each other with minimal contact.
"I wanted to produce something elevated and open that would not block the space, but would offer an alternative experience of these stately galleries," Rothschild said of her biggest work to date, called "Cold Corners."
"I want the piece to have a presence that combines clarity and confusion. It should offer itself to the eye as both whole and disparate, its skinny blackness agitating the architecture with a spidering sense of activity and strength."
Stephen Deuchar, director of Tate Britain, said the work was "monumental in scale, yet light in form" and contrasted with the "solidity" of the Duveen Galleries.
The Duveens Commission, a contemporary sculpture series, is sponsored by auctioneer Sotheby`s. It was launched in 2000 and became an annual event in 2008.
"Cold Corners" will be open to the public for free from June 30 to November29.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
Original article

Confused about fitness regimens? Poll tracks trends

(FITNESS, TRAINING, ACSM, THOMPSON, SURVEY, PROFESSIONALS, ABOUT)

By Dorene Internicola
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) Pilates or yoga? Kettlebells or free weights? Running or spinning?
If you are dizzy from trying to choose among all the fitness regimens out there a new survey of fitness and health experts, who were asked to identity the top trends, may help.
Experienced fitness professionals topped the list while strength training, core work, special fitness programs for older adults, pilates and balance training also made the top ten.
"We give the fitness professional some idea of what they`re going to see," said Dr. Walter Thompson, of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) which conducted the poll.
The ACSM, a nonprofit sports medicine and exercise science organization, tracks trends for the fitness industry and gives the public a heads-up about what they are likely to face at the gym, the doctor`s office and the workplace.
Thompson said 1,540 ACSM-certified fitness professionals from Asia, Europe, Australia, Africa, North America and South America took part in the online survey.
"We really wanted to look at trends," Thompson, a professor of Exercise Science at Georgia State University, explained. "We instructed the respondents to ignore fads, like the devices you see on late-night TV infomercials."
So you won`t discover anything about those contraptions that promise miracle abs for 30 minutes` work a week.
Thompson said it was no surprise that experienced fitness professionals and personal trainers captured the first and third spots in the survey.
"The fitness industry has increased exponentially," Thompson said, but at a price. "There has to be some policing. People are getting hurt by trainers who just don`t have the qualifications."
Personal training, introduced about 10 years ago and once a luxury for movie stars, is now provided by all gyms.
Children and obesity came in second in the poll, thanks largely to the development of more programs to attack the growing problem.
"For the first time in history the next generation of young people may not live as long as their parents or grandparents," the ACSM said in a statement.
Strength training, increasingly a part of most regimens, and core training, which strengthens and conditions the stabilizing muscles of the abdomen and back, rounded out the top five.
The stability ball, which came in at number eight, did not even make the top 20 in an ACSM survey in 2007.  Continued...
Original article

Young, Springsteen give Hyde Park rock masterclass

(YOUNG, SPRINGSTEEN, STAGE, LONDON, PLAYED, VERSION, SONGS)

By Angus MacSwan
LONDON (Reuters) - If Mount Rushmore featured rock `n` rollers instead of U.S. presidents, the faces of Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen would surely be carved there.
The two elder statesmen showed just why they are venerated by fans of all ages at the Hard Rock Calling festival in central London`s Hyde Park this weekend in performances brimming with passion, energy and timeless songs.
To cap it all, Sir Paul McCartney joined Young on stage for his encore, literally bowing at his feet as the Canadian played a feedback-drenched version of the Beatles "A Day in the Life."
Now aged 63 and 59, neither Young nor Springsteen has let up the pace in recent years. Both have released new albums in the past several months which had their moments even if they did not reach the heights of past classics.
They each took prominent positions against former U.S. President George W. Bush and the Iraq War. Springsteen campaigned hard for Barack Obama and played at his presidential inauguration.
Politics was largely absent from the Hyde Park shows though as they focused on entertaining the summer crowds in London, after headlining the Glastonbury Festival earlier in the week.
Young took to the stage on Saturday night looking like an old mountain man seeking shelter from a storm, with his bedraggled, thinning hair, craggy features and muttonchop sideburns. Not known for indulging his audiences, he played a crowd-pleasing set which drew heavily on "Harvest," his best-known album, and the guitar-heavy "Everybody Knows this is Nowhere."
He kicked off in his "Godfather of Grunge" persona with a crunching version of "Hey, Hey, My, My" and its refrain "it`s better to burn out than to fade away." He then stormed though a number of hard rockers, delighting rapturous fans, before switching to a mellow mood with a run of country-flavored numbers including "Heart of Gold" and "Old Man," as night fell on the park.
Young finished with a blazing version of "Rockin` in the Free World," uncharacteristically leading the crowd in a bout of arm-waving and leaving his black guitar wailing feedback, its strings shredded.
McCartney, an old friend, bounded on stage to join Young for the encore of "A Day in the Life," hugging Young and dancing around him. The two were clearly having fun.
Among the crowd was Beth Harley, a 26-year-old archaeologist, who had just arrived from Turkey on Saturday morning to see Young. She said she had grown up listening to his music as her parents played it all the time.
"It`s got a lot of edge. The songs don`t seem to age. It still seems relevant to what`s going on now," she said.
If Young is a willful eccentric, Springsteen is the great showman who delivers every time.
Taking the stage with the mighty, black-clad E. Street band, he launched into The Clash song "London Calling," bellowing its refrain "we live by the river" loud enough to be heard just down the road at Buckingham Palace. He then moved into more familiar territory with "Badlands" and the pace didn`t let up for the next three hours.
Springsteen ran around the stage, danced, and strutted along a special platform to get close to the fans and collect signs with song requests. He sang plenty of old favorites, switching from songs on the dreams and struggles of the working man to joyful sing-alongs.  Continued...
Original article

Rock legends form new band, call it Chickenfoot

(CHICKENFOOT, HAGAR, SMITH, CHART, WE`RE, CHILI, PEPPERS)

By Mike Collett-White
LONDON (Reuters) - Some of the biggest names in rock have banded together to form a new supergroup. They call it Chickenfoot, a name they readily admit is "silly."
While the name may not be to everyone`s taste, Van Halen veterans Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and virtuoso guitarist Joe Satriani rose high in the U.S. charts with their eponymous debut album this month.
"We called ourselves Chickenfoot as a kind of a joke, and people started digging it, and so Chad`s going, `Let`s start a real band`," Hagar said during a boisterous interview with the band in London, where they performed during a European tour.
"Joe had a band called the Squares -- all of a sudden Chickenfoot sounded like a really good name," Hagar joked.
Hagar and Anthony used to jam together at Hagar`s club in Mexico, and when Smith joined them, they gelled. Smith, who still plays for the Chili Peppers, suggested forming a group, and Satriani was invited as the final piece in the jigsaw.
The four members of Chickenfoot have sold tens of millions of records and played thousands of gigs between them over the years, but the childlike enthusiasm for their latest venture comes from starting all over again.
"We`re a new band, even though we`ve got names, we`ve all been in other bands," Hagar told Reuters. "So we have to kind of let the world know who Chickenfoot is, I think."
Bass player Anthony added that he took exception to the term "supergroup."
"For me, when I hear the name supergroup I think of some pre-fab type of thing ... If the chemistry is not there you can be the best musicians, best players there are, it`s not going to come out the way I think this came out.
"This was born out of friendship, it was more organic in that sense."
The band has played a series of small gigs in the United States before flying to Europe for a tour, and returns to North America winding up its travels at the end of September.
"We`re a new band and when you`re a new band you start and play clubs and you play to your fans," said Smith. "We`re not playing stuff from Van Halen, or Joe, or Chili Peppers, we`re just playing Chickenfoot."
CHART SUCCESS
Chickenfoot`s debut album, released earlier in June, opened at No. 4 in the U.S. pop chart and No. 1 in the independent music chart. It maintained its position in the main chart the following week before slipping to No. 7 in the latest list.
"It`s the first time I`ve ever been up in that territory, above the clouds," said Satriani, who is embroiled in a copyright infringement suit with British band Coldplay over its hit single "Viva La Vida."  Continued...
Original article

Downturn creates more working mothers in Asia

(WOMEN, THEIR, FAMILY, MOTHER, HARISH, CHILDREN, SURVEY)

By Miral Fahmy
SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - The economic crisis is turning more Asian women into CFOs, or chief family officers, according to a new survey, juggling work and childcare as they try to boost the family income.
Three in four people in Asia believe women are capable of juggling work and family successfully, the massive survey of 33,000 people in 16 countries showed.
Asian women have long been part of the region`s workforce, but the global economic downturn has made having a job a necessity for most, according to the "Eye on Asia" poll by global marketing communications firm Grey Group.
"This, however, has put a lot of pressure on many women, who in addition to having a career, must also take on the role of chief family officer," Charu Harish, regional communications planning director for Grey Group Asia Pacific, told Reuters.
"Because of the traditional attitudes, women feel they must be the picture-perfect wife, mother and employee, which puts them in an unfair, and little recognized, position."
According to the survey, one of the largest snapshots of opinions and trends in the region, nearly 90 percent said it was necessary for mothers to work to contribute to the family income, especially in the current economic climate.
The same survey found that a majority -- 86 percent -- of Asia Pacific respondents worry about their finances and were saving for the future.
Over three-quarters believed women were capable of doing both -- taking care of the family and having a job at the same time -- even though, given a choice, many mothers would prefer to stay at home and watch their children grow up, Harish said.
Some 81 percent of mothers surveyed said they felt so busy these days that they did not spend enough time with their children, which Harish said, led to many mums over-indulging their children to assuage their guilt.
This was particularly the case in the fast-paced economies of Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong, but less so in developing countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam.
"In many ways, women have evolved, while many men still maintain a traditional attitude and do not acknowledge that they need to take part in the child-minding and running the house," Harish said.
Overall, nearly two-thirds of Asians said they felt society supported working mothers, which, in many cases, meant grandparents taking care of the children.
Harish said that while this was the most convenient child-care solution, it was creating tension in families due to the generational gap. "The older generations believe in stronger discipline, while the parents tend to be more liberal, and their children even more so," she explained.
The survey polled 33,000 people in 16 countries: Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. For more details click on www.greyeyeon.asia
(Editing by Valerie Lee)
Original article