Blog Posts by Piper Weiss, Shine Staff

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

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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

The Carnival Splendor adrift at sea. (U.S. Navy / via L.A. Times)Everyone says the first year of marriage is the hardest, but the first week? Could be if you're heading out to sea for your honeymoon. Kendal and Daniel Gill, the young couple stranded on the Carnival Splendor on their honeymoon, didn't bank on spending their first days of wedded bliss on a deck chair eating spam. But the ocean is an unpredictable bedfellow.

For starters, there's the weather. Rough conditions can knock on ports on your itinerary. It can also keep you trapped in your cabin for days with a bad bout of sea-sickness.
A rough ride made for nauseating honeymoon for one blogger. "The pools were losing water left and right (literally!) The ship was a-rockin', but not in a good way. I was terrified, making myself take long naps so I wouldn't have to worry about it," the honeymooner wrote on WeddingBee.com. What's even worse than sea-sickness can be the forced activities crew members come up with to keep passengers preoccupied. "There are only so many days I can withstand

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Clue #8: The There are a lot of rites of passage to becoming a woman: your first period, your sweet sixteen, your voting card, driver's license, invitation to the adult table at holidays. But those are markers of physical adulthood. Mental adulthood is a whole different story.

When faced with the responsibility for another person's livelihood, whether it's a child or a parent, you're instantly foisted into adulthood. But with an increasing number of 20 and 30 somethings living under their parents' roof, and having children later, that's not the case. One side effect is that a lot of technical adults are facing a crisis of maturity, or "Thrisis," according to CNN.

While I consider my protracted youth a privilege not a crisis, I've definitely had some slaps in the face ever since I turned 30 two years ago. I'm an adult child. I'm not proud of this, but it's the truth. At 32, I'm a single, childless, urban-dweller with parents a borough away and a gaggle of equally childless best friends who still

Read More »from 15 clues I'm a grownup, even if I don't act like one

Daniel and Kendal Gill's honeymoon has turned into hell aboard the stranded Carnival cruise. (photo via KPHO News) Eating Spam for every meal, bedding on plastic deck chairs and relieving yourself in backed up toilets. How's that for a honeymoon? Ask Kendal and Daniel Gill, two of the 4,500 passengers and crew members aboard the Carnival Splendor cruise that's stuck at sea.

On day after their wedding at the Shiloh Community Church outside Phoenix, Arizona last Saturday, the newlyweds set sail on their dream honeymoon. They didn't get very far.

The boat's been stranded in the water, off the coast of Mexico, since early Monday when an engine fire shut down power. After days adrift at sea with no A/C or ventilation in cabins, passengers have taken to sleeping on the upper decks. Meanwhile bathrooms aren't working and hot water is off, so basic hygiene for the many thousands on board has become a major problem. Add to that a dwindling food supply. Yesterday, emergency services dropped down cans of Spam, usually reserved for Navy ships, to keep the passengers from starving. It's hardly what

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(photo via NerdAlley.com)You're iPhone has already been tasked with tracking your monthly cycle and your birth control pill upkeep. Now it's being asked to scout out STD's too. Why even bother with an OBGYN? News comes this week of a new app in the works that functions much like a pregnancy test. Only it detects the bad things that your sexy-time made, not the nice things.
Here's how it works according to a report in The Guardian:"People who suspect they have been infected will be able to put urine or saliva on to a computer chip about the size of a USB chip, plug it into their phone or computer and receive a diagnosis within minutes, telling them which, if any, sexually transmitted infection (STI) they have."
The device, which would only cost a few bucks and would likely be sold nationwide in the UK, would instantly detect the presence of chlamydia and gonorrhea, among other undisclosed infections. The researchers claim to be close to making the app a reality, though their next battle would be ensuring the

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(via VenteCafffeinato)
"Rough night! Good thing I just ate a burrito. Maybe I'll just check Facebook before I fall asleep, I mean the curser is like right on my status bar anyway." Bad decision #1 (#2 if you count the burrito). The next mistakes are a domino effect: you graffiti your co-workers' Facebook walls with the word "fart." You re-tweet 50 of your ex-boyfriend's tweets. You implore an OKCupid date from two years ago to come over via text message, at least you think that's who the "Mark" in your phone was.

It's called drunk digital driving, kids, and it destroys reputations.
The Social Media SobrietyTest is here to help. Your virtual designated driver, the application for Twitter and Facebook forces users to answer sobering brain-teasers before accessing their accounts in the wee hours. It's a good idea and not the first of its kind. Gmail offers a similar service for email users. And surprise, surprise, the iPhone has an app for preventing drunk texts and calls. Thanks, internet. Just one problem:

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We may have underestimated the power of the dairy industry. Maybe the

Remember when extra cheese meant an extra charge? In the past few years, fast food has gotten really nice about loading up on melty, gooey goodness for free. Almost too nice...

Turns out the industry has gotten incentive from the government to add more cheese to their products. Blame Americans trying to eat healthier: the push for obesity prevention and dietary initiatives have been taking a toll on the dairy industry. So the Department of Agriculture teamed up with a dairy marketing enterprise to reposition fatty cheese as a mainstay in our nation's diet. This isn't such a helpful tactic for the millions of Americans who suffer from obesity and are in need of more dietary options.

"Americans now eat an average of 33 pounds of cheese a year, nearly triple the 1970 rate," according to the New York Times, which led the investigation into the covert cheese operation. "Cheese has become the largest source of saturated fat; an ounce of many cheeses contains as much saturated

Read More »from 7 cheesiest meals at chain restaurants