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Show DAILY D6 Jake Coyle or regifting a fruitcake for the holidays? Should I start a vicious cycle by giving someone a fruitcake? And should I get one, is it OK for me to regift it to someone else? What if I get one ... what is the appropriate response? tradition. The proper response is to thank the people who gave it to you. And to remove the card before passing it oa After proper aging, it will eventually reach the two or three people in this world who love fruitcake. the three "Lord of the Rings" f urns were made. Production is set to begin in 2009 with a release planned for 20 10, and the NEW YORK Peter Jackson and New sequel scheduled for a 2011 release. Line Cinema have reached agreement to Late last year, acrimony between Jackmake J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit, a son and New Line became very public, planned prequel to the blockbuster trilogy with the studio announcing they would "The Lord of the Rings." move forward with "The Hobbit" without the Academy Award-winnin- g director. Jackson, who directed "Rings," will serve as executive producer for "The Jackson sued New Line over the amount Hobbit." A director for the prequel films he was paid for "The Fellowship of the has yet to be named. Ring," the first installment of the trilogy. Relations between Jackson and New That litigation, the two sides announced Line had soured after "Rings," despite a Tuesday, has been settled. collective worldwide box office gross of Jackson, who shepherded Tolkien's Middle-eartnearly $3 billion an enormous success. saga to the screen in a series The two sides nevertheless were able to of three films, won a Oscar for 2003's "The Lord of the Rings: The Rereconcile, with Studios (MGM) splitting "The Hobbit" turn of the King." 5050, spokesmen for both studios said The trilogy also includes 2002's "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and Tuesday. "I'm very pleased that we've been able 2001's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowto put our differences behind us, so that ship of the Ring." we may begin a new chapter with our old New Line, which is owned by Time friends at New Line," Jackson said in a Warner Inc., holds the rights to produce statement. "We are delighted to continue "The Hobbit," while MGM, which is our journey through Middle Earth." owned by a consortium including Sony Two "Hobbit" films are scheduled to Corp. and Comcast Corp., has the right to be shot simultaneously, similar to how distribute it. THt ASSOCIATED PRESS MISS MANNERS is the etiquette GENTLE READER Vicious cycle? And here Miss Manners thought it was a holiday Wednesday, December 19, 2007 Peter Jackson to produce 'The Hobbit' Regillingis a holiday tradition DEAR HERALD Judith Martin '- - h best-direct- Miss Manners Please pay attention to who you call. There are many stores in the Yellow pages that are right above each other. The item you reserved DEAR MISS MANNERS may be in Peasanton or PleasI would really ant Hill, and unless you are appreciate it if you would put this up for alert, you may end up reservyour gentle readers to have a ing an item at the wrong better understanding of those store. of us working retail If what you ask is against We know the lines are long; store policy, please do not please do not take out your change tactics. No is no and frustration on us; we are mov- the Corporate enforces these rules with audits. If it is not ing as fast as we can without possible to acquiesce, becommaking mistakes. We know we need to call ing angry, defensive, insulted for assistance if there are any or louder than necessary will not get you your way. The unmanned registers; that is v "Customer from Heck" is a why we request it over the favorite gossip story among store's speakers. Please pay attention to staff and you may be the when we make the calls; deday's top story over the water manding 10 seconds later that cooler. GENTLE READER we call again is not going to Hang in there, Christmas rush will speed things up. It may take 10 whole seconds for assissoon be over, and it will be tance to arrive from the other time for returns! and sales! Miss Manners is in tremenend of the store or for assistance to make itself available. dous sympathy with the drubPlease be patient; chances bing people in retail get from are good that the retailer you those out to celebrate a festival of peace. She has observed are waiting for was hired recently for holiday help and the melee in the aisles. With all her heart, she may not be proficient with the local registerscomputers. We joins you in begging your all have to start some time, customers to behave with the and if we are unsure, it is consideration, fairness and safer to ask a manager about dignity that they expect in policy than let you have your their working lives. But she asks something of way only to get written up for breaking it later. you which may be even harder. That is to remember that We know there are many in this stores out there; please keep you are the grown-up- s all of your receipts so that you situation, and to remain calm are not left with a book from and professional under trying one store that you tried to recircumstances. turn to a different bookstore. Missfocmners's newest , Yes, I assure you the inventories ARE different between book is "No Vulgar Hotel: stores, and that yes, they will The Desire and Pursuit of refuse to honor each other's Venice, " written under her real name, Judith Martin. gift cards. 1 y, MARK J. TERRILL Press Associated Director Peter Jackson has an agreement to produce "The Hobbit," two prequel films to the "Lord of the Ring" trilogy. Our bodies and their bugs any years ago, I en- countered a small book left me itching for weeks: "Life on Man." It was filled with repulsive little details about the mites that live in our eyebrows and crawl around between our toes. Among other places. It also spent some time with bacteria known to inhabit us. And it does not matter how often you bathe or shower, the little guys are still with you. In recent years, however, it has become clear that we are not just organisms that serve as a host for these creatures. Rather they are part of us; they are critical components to what makes a human and we cannot live without them. And we're not talking just a few either. Es- By the time we are about six weeks old we have pretty well compleacquired an adult-typ- e ment, though this may change a bit with environmental changes through life. Most of these species are harmless, but others get out of control and cause such niceties as athlete's foot, acne, and impetigo. In the gut (intestinal tract), different communities live in special parts. The colon is the real paradise, harboring thousands of species that collectively weigh more than 2 pounds. And just as termites depend on the bacterial inhabitants of their intestinal tracts to digest the cellulose they consume, so we depend on our intestinal microbes to digest the complex sugars (polysaccharides) that make up such a large portion of our diets. Human enzymes apparently can't do that job. DNA technology, we can collect a sample of these from selected body environments, chop up their DNA into tiny bits, sequence these fragments, and then them into their respective genetic systems (genomes). New Scientist uses a nice analogy: it's like sorting out the pieces from a batch of mixed jigsaw puzzles and fitting them into their proper combinations. New Scientist selects three body environments for specific attention: our skin, gut (that's a good word in biology), and mouth. Let's quickly sample them. One research team at New York University has studied the skin of just a small portion of the forearm of 12 healthy volunteers. That produced 360 identified species of microbes. And while everyone shared a common "core" of species, every person had a unique "microbial complement." We apparently are rather free of this community while in the womb but begin to acquire our individual complements during and after birth, the first ones coming from our mothers during the birth process itself . modern M! Duane Jeffrey Science & Society pling our growing knowledge of this diverse community. We're not talking just bacteria or mites. Our obligate community members include viruses, fungi (molds), protozoans timates are that there are more (single-celleorganisms which than 10 times as many micropossess a true nucleus, in conbial cells that are oninpart of tradistinction to bacteria), and us as there are human cells, and archaeans (for our purposes, that the total number of micro- rather like bacteria). bial genes that are part of "us" We have known so little are about 1,000 times the genes about these parts of us because in the true human DNA. So we identification and study of them has depended on our ability to are, each of us, a community, isolate them and grow them in not a single living organism at ... the laboratory. And that seems .all.; The Aug. 18 issue of New to be possible for only a very Scientist has a nice article sam- - tiny percentage. Now, using d Our mouths are, of course, loaded with microbes, good and bad. These can even be used to trace our cultural histories since they vary significantly among different ethnic groups. I Duane Jeffrey is a professor of zoology at Brigham Young University. Grand Opening Specials AT OLIVEWOOD (pj'l 50 30OffA:IGdcs 0,'f A'!-- l 1x1 4 C'f; All GkJees 4 II 8 30 Off Journey cf f&Mfrs HwYoM Documentaries on 20 OF? DVD ' , OLIVEWOOD ' BOOKS ART MEDIA (SOI) 373.2787 . $330 Uitivmty A $te C CD I) Prints HOLIDAY SPECIAL 15 OFF ANY CLOSET &mff Cjd DHDEC07 fins. Jmm i f6 " i I i f i - 1 |