Blog Posts by Piper Weiss, Shine Staff

A scene from the 1973 movie, The Exorcist (via The London Telegraph)This past weekend, over 100 Catholic bishops and priests convened in Baltimore to talk about one thing: the devil. The two-day conference on exorcism was an educational and training session to prepare clergy for the practice which has seen an increase in demand.

"The real hope here and the purpose is to provide some training so that really every diocese could have its own resources to handle such inquires," Bishop Thomas Paprocki, chairman of the bishops' Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, told abcnews.com.While the conference was relegated to members of the clergy, several facts about the practice have been made public.

1. Only 5 or 6 Catholic priests in the U.S. perform exorcisms today, which is part of the reason the conference was held. Providing hands-on training that's approved by the Catholic church is an important issue for the religious community.
2. Pope John Paul II once performed an exorcism on a woman brought to the Vatican "writhing and

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A lot of kids' books are funny. Not these. They're the saddest books I've ever seen. I started crying while I was scrolling through Amazon reading some of these titles. Some parents face brutal challenges, and explaining it all to their children must be the hardest thing they ever have to do. And some kids are forced to confront the kinds of tragedies many adults never even face in a lifetime. Some people are very brave.

The birds and the bees used to the be the trickiest talk parents tackled with their kids. Either life has gotten more complicated or parents have gotten more open (or both), but early childhood books are confronting a host of issues generations past never really addressed. And that's not a bad thing. The benefits of confronting fears, traumas and mixed messages in early childhood can help your child process the experience rather than repress it. But what exactly are we confronting these days? For starters, mommy's lower back tattoo.

Read More »from New kids' books for modern families

Two pairs of jeans in one? It's about freaking time. The European denim label, Salsa Fits My Life, just introduced a pair of reversible denims currently being sold in high-end boutiques. One side is a dark wash, the other is a light wash. But once you own them that quickly becomes: one side is dirty, the other side is still relatively clean. The line, which retails for $179, is called "The Two," but a better name might have been, "How have we never thought of this before?"

It's times like these I'm grateful that a few brilliant thinkers are still tackling life's everyday problems. Consider a few other solutions to fashion dilemmas spawned in the 21st century.


Problem: Sandwich belly. One of the worst feelings--busting out of a pair of jeans that were comfortable only an hour before lunch. Why do you have to be so delicious, ham, and yet so cruel?

Solution: Adjust-a-button. This little life-changer functions like an earring for your fly. Pin and fasten the button to any layer of denim

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Before you answer that, take a look at this video of a bunch of high school girls doing hurdles. The synopsis posted on YouTube reads: "In this video is Alexis who displayed the courage it takes to continue. She didn't give up when others would have. It was a very proud moment for her parents." Despite that sentiment and the motivational muscle music, Alexis and the other young runners seem to be in a lot of pain.

Jessica Seinfeld says her chicken parmesan made Jerry fall in love with her. "He couldn't believe he'd met a girl who actually cooks," she tells Goop. Really? Cooking seems to be a requirement if you're going to marry a celebrity.

Is it just a coincidence that every non-famous wife of a major celebrity has a cookbook? They can't all have a culinary degree. And they don't. But being wife and mother of a celebrity household, is credibility enough. It can't hurt that their famous husbands help with press opportunities and superstar pals like Gwyneth Paltrow and Oprah join in the media dissemination. Seinfeld's gotten non-stop press for her first book about cooking for kids--some good, some bad. And now she's pushing forward in her cooking career with a new website and a second cookbook for busy moms.

She's part of a movement of celeb wives whose side project du jour has shifted from jewelry lines and baby boutiques to culinary endeavors. Strangely, the homemakers of the rich and

Read More »from Cookbook wives: pet projects of the rich and famously married

They say to stay relevant, you've got to change with the tide--but this is ridiculous. In the past few years, Gwyenth Paltrow's gone from Oscar winner to slow jams crooner, to macrobiotic spokesperson, to Mario Batalli apprentice, to uber-posh lifestyle editrix, to...what's this? Country star. At last night's Country Music Awards, she strummed a guitar and sang a song from her upcoming movie, "Country Strong." And really, she wasn't bad. But like the rest of her ventures, it was missing heart. And with a country song, that's the number one ingredient.

Now there's nothing wrong with trying new things, but Paltrow's got a problem with follow through. She tends to start a lot of things and then lose interest before they ever get good. Wasn't the Goop email supposed to develop into a larger brand? What was that gym she was talking about starting? And didn't she want to do a cookbook or something?

Getty Images Entertainment: Rick DiamondFor a superstar who calls Madonna her bestie, and a mansion her home, her crisis of

Read More »from Now she's gone country? Gwyneth's career confusion

Models flaunt their hard work at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, airing Nov. 30 on CBS. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Victoria's Secret designs the lingerie. Justin Gelband designs the bodies that wear it. At the annual runway show, Gelband's efforts were getting all the attention. He's been called the Model Whisperer, ever since the label began tasking him with getting models in shape for their epic catwalk. "I started for Victoria's Secret a few years ago with Angie Lindvall and it just took off from there," Gelband said yesterday in between preparations for the big event, which airs, Tuesday, Nov. 30 on CBS. This year, he spent the past 12 weeks training eight women for the yesterday's runway Olympics.

Your job is more than just getting women in shape. It's about sculpting the kind of bodies that can really sell a bra. Is there a secret to your formula?

There isn't one. Everybody is different. I build a foundation for each woman. I find out who they are, what they do now and create a new program for them using fundamental exercise programs. I train them at a Mixed Martial Art studio

Read More »from The secret to the world's best bodies