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A spoonful of hope might not be the best medicine, according to a new study that asserts that optimism can actually be harmful to mental health.

Strength doesn't come from the arms, back, chest or even legs. It comes from the core. Every sport, from tennis to tae kwon do, relies on the major muscle rectus abdominis, better known as "the abs."

That extra hour of sleep last weekend doesn't begin to make a dent in tired for most Americans.

Richard Huhn drove his uncle's flashy 1929 Buick when he was just 12.

Years later, assigned to the Army motor pool in World War II, he chauffeured officers in France, Belgium and Germany. "I drove down the main street in Paris," he remembers.

Now 94, his vision severely impaired, Huhn doesn't drive anymore. His ophthalmologist insisted he quit about four years ago.

TOKYO - Tokyo is huge. If you stand on the top level of the highest skyscraper and do a 360-degree turnabout, you will see city to the horizon. It has parks, but no suburbs. High-speed roadways run through canyons of architecture, but numerous side streets, large and small, define neighborhoods, and each 'hood has its own main street and koban, police station cubicle.

TOKYO - "Birds do it, bees do it, even all the Japanese do it ..."

Apologies to Cole Porter.

Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore. Nope, we're in a bathroom in Tokyo about to alight on a (ital) ne plus ultra (end ital) electric toilet. In America, we sit, we go, we wipe, we flush.

TOKYO - Practice your chopstick skills before you go to Tokyo, although all restaurants keep at least a couple of forks set aside.

-- Unagi donburi. Donburi means "food arranged on steamed rice." Unagi is eel. Some people freak out because eels look like, um, snakes. Cooked, it's just a piece of fish, sweet-sauced and served over rice, often with shredded omelet to the side. Delish.

Limeade pie is a favorite of many cooks. Donna Lesser of Tampa, Fla., has been making it for 30 years. She says it's a great last-minute dessert. This limeade pie whips up quickly, but you must consider about a two-hour refrigeration time before serving. Be sure to completely combine the limeade and sweetened condensed milk. This will take longer than you think.

Could the time have finally arrived for roasted bone marrow to be served in every household on Sunday nights?

Bad boy chef Anthony Bourdain calls the Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad at London's St. John restaurant his "death row meal." That's high praise for a man who has eaten his way around the world a few times.

Q: I'm going to L.A. next week for the first time. If I see a celebrity in a restaurant, is it OK to say hi? Can I ask for an autograph or photo?