Some Like It Cold
Magic man David Blaine gets ready to play Frosty the showman in a Webcast ice capade
Magician David Blaine's last big stunt was as a hipster Dracula, locking himself in a Plexiglas coffin under a Manhattan street for seven days. On Nov. 27 he is going to take urban cool even farther: He's set to cozy up inside a 6-ton ice cube plunked down in Times Square. It's no illusion, insists Blaine, 27: "This is really an endurance experience." Clad only in pants and boots and with a mere two inches of wiggle room on each side, Blaine will chill as a 24/7 Web cam broadcasts the nonaction at davidblaine.com. Fans can monitor Blaine's vital signs and think up questions to be written on cards for him to answer ("I'll be blinking my eyes once for yes and twice for no," he explains) before he emerges on an ABC special Nov. 29. "The real difficulty, besides the temperature, is that I have to stand up the entire time and I can't fall asleep," says Blaine, who has been taking dips in a tank filled with ice water to prepare. The Brooklyn native, a onetime street magician and former steady of singer Fiona Apple, is already planning his next feat. "It's going to be great—normally someone would get arrested for attempting suicide for doing it," he says. "It involves bridges and it'll be in New York City." So what's Blaine's take on rival illusionist David Copperfield? "That Charles Dickens is a great writer," he says slyly.
My Favorite Sites
Christie Brinkley
In person, Brinkley often dodges shutterbugs at swank hotels. But on the Web she hangs out at—the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development? Yup, the environmentalist cover girl likes HUD's new E-Maps site (hud.gov/emaps), where users can enter their zip codes to see a map showing local air polluters and other environmental hazards. "Knowledge really is power," says Brinkley, 46.
Internet Manners
Is it normal to like a guy I met on the Net and have never met in person? And is it rude to talk about him all the time?
Normal? Heck, cyber-romance is practically a national pastime. (Just don't throw caution to the wind—as your friends probably never tire of warning you, the typist of your dreams may not be all that he seems.) But while your pen pal need not remain a secret love, yammering on and on about someone your friends don't know—or any absent significant other, for that matter—is highly impolite. Keep the mooning to a minimum, or you may wind up having only virtual pals.
Click and Get It
Game, set and lunch: livin' la vida Boca
Already thinking about unique holiday gifts? Through Nov. 22, eBay's "Ultimate Gifts" auction(www.ebay.com/promo/holiday/ultimate) offers a day of lessons at Chris Evert's Boca Raton, Fla., tennis academy, plus lunch and a private dinner at home with the six-time U.S. Open champ. Coming up for grabs soon on the same site: a walk-on role on FOX's MadTV, lunch with boy band Take 5, a makeover by cosmetics queen Bobbi Brown and a chance to shoot hoops with L.A. Laker Kobe Bryant.
Let's Talk Turkey
Who's dreading Thanksgiving more—the turkey or you? Never fear—many "Web sites have antidotes for the gravy-jeebies. First, the bird: Butterball.com dishes out all you need to know about how to thaw (very important), stuff, roast, carve and next-day sandwichify your gobbler. Or catch Epicurious.com's video turkey tutorial. Hankering for something a little different? Find instructions for Awesome Tangerine-Glazed Turkey or Creole Cornbread Stuffing at Thanksgivingrecipe.com, which collects recipes from home cooks. Or pick up tricks from celeb chefs at the Food Network's FoodTV.com, which offers first-aid tips for "turkeytastrophes" such as pallid skin (brush with reduced orange juice, then broil) and burned gravy (add smoky-flavored chipotle peppers, then "tell guests it's a Southwestern Thanksgiving").
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