Size 16?

5 Worst Halloween Candies (and 10 Best Survival Tips!), by David Zinczenko, Mens Health via Yahoo! Health.

A cocker spaniel weighs about 24 pounds. You know what else weighs 24 pounds? The heft of candy the average American gobbles down each year, a big chunk of that falling to our waistlines in the days before and after Halloween. Fun size? I don't think so—unless it's fun being size 16. These stats could very well turn you as white as a ghost:

* Three miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups—the kind you find in office candy bowls and trick-or-treat-bags—fill your belly with more sugar than a glazed doughnut.

* Half a pack of Skittles has more sugar than a scoop of Haagen-Dazs Cookies and Cream Ice Cream.

* Nine Twizzlers carry as many calories as a Wendy’s Double Stack Burger.

First of all, I don't think I have eaten 24 pounds of candy during any year of my life. Second, I have hovered around a size 16 for much of the past decade. I thought my life was pretty fun . . . until David Zinczenko informed me otherwise, and warned me that candy statistics would make me turn white. If my love of Backstreet Boys hasn't done that yet, nothing will.

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Backstreet Boys on Conan!

Of course I missed it last night, since I learned about it today on Best Day Ever. But I did like the above Three Questions with Howie and AJ. Howie's my favorite, but AJ has the most fervent fan base.

I agree with the interviewer: what is up with letting T-Pain use autotune on your album? I thought that was so over.

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Who went to see Backstreet Boys tonight?

I did!

It was awesome for many reasons. Here are the top two:

1. Kevin came back! He made a surprise appearance during the last song, "Shape of My Heart."

2. Going to this concert with my friends helped me feel better about who I am and what I am about. Apparently I'm all about Backstreet Boys. I will have to add that to my value proposition, because it needs some padding right about now.

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Because I'm awesome.

The song:

The backup:

The second backup:

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How much will Howie get?

Boy band promoter ordered to repay victims $300M, by Travis Reed, AP via Yahoo! News.

Lou Pearlman and federal authorities have finally agreed on how much the former boy band promoter swindled from banks and investors in a decades-long scam: a staggering $300 million.

That's how much creator of the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync will have to repay, at a minimum, for restitution on the fraud conviction for which he's serving a 25-year prison sentence . . .

I still miss Kevin. He's alive, just not in the group anymore.

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I know times are tough, but

if you're shooting a video for my new favorite song, you should remember to budget for a set and wardrobe. Two chairs, a mattress and the back of a car does not make for a compelling comeback, Jesse. I'm not asking for late-90s era "Pop" or "Larger than Life". But even New Kids got to party on the beach with some extras.

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Sex and the City turned me into Miranda.

Just like Daria turned me into Daria. And Will & Grace turned me into Will.

Except not. I was already uptight and introverted and meticulous, respectively, when I began watching those shows:

'Sex and the City' Fiend: Show Turned Me Into Samantha, by Sheila Marikar, ABC News via Yahoo! News.

. . . ["Lisa"] got hooked on "Sex and the City" when she was a 14-year-old growing up on Long Island, N.Y. It was the same year she lost her virginity. She soon graduated to ordering cosmopolitans at bars she snuck into and cheating on her boyfriend with up to seven other guys -- in one week. "When you're that age you try to emulate people on TV. Carrie smoked, so I smoked, Samantha looked at hooking up with random people as not a big deal, so that's what I did too," said Lisa, now 22. "It wasn't 'Sex and the City's' fault. I love the show, but I think it made it a little easier to justify my behavior." . . .

. . . Lisa left her "Samantha" ways behind at 19, when she moved to Utah, became a Mormon, married a man within the church and gave birth to two children. For the first year of her marriage, her husband forbade her to watch "Sex and the City" for fear that it would lure her back to her habits of sex, drugs and one-too-many cosmos . . .

I wish my husband would try to forbid me from watching a TV show. I doubt he would make it out the front door alive.

Some apropos comments followed:

For the love of God almighty who prints this crap?!?!?! ABC should be ashamed of itself, but like most corporate entities it's only ashamed when the ad dollars dry up. This is journalism. People dying due to fascist regimes in and out of our country and this is what you print? To hell with your news department ABC. I'm taking my business elsewhere.

- NightEmber79

and

So SATC wasn't around when I was 14 and I had sex. Who should I blame? LOL

- sarahthewitch

LOL indeed, sarah. LOL indeed.

Also, where does Ms. Marikar get off printing the line, "To be clear: "Sex and the City" can't be blamed for creating a generation of sluts." What self-respecting journalist, and woman, would make that kind of backwards, judgmental statement in a "news" article. Probably the same kind of writer that would include the quote, "It wasn't 'Sex and the City's' fault. I love the show, but I think it made it a little easier to justify my behavior.", and still choose the contradictory title, "'Sex and the City' made me have sex at 14".

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In other "Oh, really?" news:

Boy band creator [Lou Pearlman of Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync and O-Town] sentenced to 25 years in prison, by Travis Reed, AP via Yahoo! News.

It's about time. [Update: Defamer, I re-reported this story first. Again. Yes, it might be my only post this week compared to your "27 POSTS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS", but no matter. Victory is mine!]

and

American to charge for 1st checked bag, cut flights, by David Koenig, AP via Yahoo! News.

Boo.

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