CNBC Reveals Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Special Tonight

Brooklyn Decker, Andy Roddick’s Wife, Is 2010 Cover Girl

It’s been revealed that Brooklyn Decker is the 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover girl, and tonight CNBC will take the wraps off the most profitable single-issue magazine in the world.

The financial news network will premiere Business Model: Inside the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue on Feb. 9 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT)

Reported by Darren Rovell, the special reveals how business, beauty, fashion and sports come together — in the varied forms of 18 models from six locations — to create this franchise that alone generated 7% of Time Inc. News Group’s annual revenue in 2009.

The one-hour documentary looks at the history of the franchise, which started in 1964 as a five-page supplement each February to heat up the winter months. Now, it’s a billion dollar multi-platform empire, which has been dubbed the “print Super Bowl of advertising. The show also catches up with former SI Swimsuit supermodels Cheryl Tiegs, Carol Alt and Kathy Ireland. The latter talks about her marketing and design company, Kathy Ireland Worldwide, which generates $1.4 billion in annual sales.

Decker’s place in the SI sun was announced on CBS’s The Late Show with David Letterman on Feb. 8. Decker is the wife of American tennis star Andy Roddick.

Written by Mike Reynolds, originally posted on 2/9/2010 at Multichannel News

Carol From Russia – Part II

Hello again from Russia!

My trip here is winding down all too soon!

However, I thought I might share some of photos I took while here and to share what I am seeing and how I see it.

I know in my last Blog I talked about how the Russians drive compared to Americans. By the way, I must say that it seems to work for them. I hardly ever hear a Horn blowing. And having grown up in NYC and living in big cities all my life, horns are a way of life (unfortunately!)

I know horns are silly—I mean, no one listens to them anyway as most people blow them out of frustration or anger–not life or death!

But anyway, back to Russia! And my photos! I must say that I took all these photos on my Iphone! So bear with me and with the quality of them—it was minus 16 degrees Celsius! Yes, I did say MINUS!
My fingers were frozen and to get anyone to stop to take a picture of me at a site was, well, next to impossible (not to mention that my Russian is unforgivable!)
The few I got were not viewable!

I must say that I think that St Pete’s is the prettiest city I have ever seen! It just really appeals to my sense of beauty and order. It is so clean (for the number of tourists in the summer, it is actually quite remarkable!) and the architecture is spectacular! But, being that it is Christmas here and New Year’s (I think New Year’s is more important than Christmas to the Russians because it is promoted more than the Religious Holidays) the city has put on the RITZ!

I do not think that I have seen a city strut its stuff like St Pete’s does. There are Decorated trees on EVERY block! And no two trees around the city are alike! Peter the Great introduced the trees in the 1800’s after a trip to Europe. For the fact that this is not a custom that originated in Russia, the Russians have embrace the tree more and any other European City I have been in!
SERIOUSLY, they are EVERYWHERE! Happily!

I got only a couple in photos because they all have moving lights and look bare in photos

	The bridges are decorated to the hilt all year long-but at Christmas they go all-out. One bridge has a lighted Santa on it and he is bowling with snowballs. As the snowballs pile up they become a Snowman! So funny! And so pretty to watch the lights….. No, I did not photo that because it is the movement of the lights that makes it so special and I cannot capture it on my Iphone! But I did capture the lights down Nevsky Prospect! I have this photo of what it is like during the day (I know, St Pete’s is dark and depressing during the day: it is dark from 3pm-11am practically!) But at night (see side photo!) they let the dogs out!!

I also went to see a little crafts fair—yes, yes!! In -16C!

At one point I told my guide: “OK, if it comes down to a hot cup of tea at SINGER (pronounced zinGer) or a Santa Claus—the cup of tea wins out!” So we went to Singer….. I happen to love Singer- it reminds me of the 50’s sweet shops! Not that I was alive then, but I HAVE seen pictures! I don’t think they have renovated this shop in many years, but they take such good care of it—and it is SO nice. Life slows down here! You can sit in the big windows and look down on the hustle and bustle of the Nevsky and feel warm and cozy with a nice cup of Jasmine Green Tea! I Only got two photos of the building itself.

It has snowed for the last couple of days for as much as it snows, I was surprised to see that I got only one photo of the snow! The photo I got of the snow is this one from the front window of the car! It is while I was driving down the Nevsky that I got it. You can just barely make out the snow oh, and the Nevsky lights! I mean, it is hard to shoot photos here because it is always so dark!!

One beautifully decorated area that get honorable Mention is this area called the Stock Exchange. This was an area where all the boats used to dock to bring goods into St Petersburg.

Then they would take the goods into this building And be “traded.” I have never seen a building done up quite like this one! These lights go ALL THE WAY AROUND the building! Every column, every window sill, every eve! By they way, marriages are very simple in Russia. The couple goes to the town hall, signs in and then takes a limo around town to shoot photos. Maybe they stop with their friends to eat… I mention this because this area is also a favorite stop for newly weds taking photos. This is their Hummer limo! I went to see a Modern version of Cinderella— I will not discuss the fact that it had a scene with Prince Charming in a section of town frequented with “Women in RED!!” And a scene with all men…..(ah! Modern take on an old classic!) But I will tell you that the Merinski Theater is BEAUTIFUL inside
And out

I will be going to Christmas Mass in one of my two favorite churches. This church, The Church of the Sacred Blood, is made totally of tiles and mosaic! There is not one PAINTED wall in the WHOLE church! This church was bombed during WWI and WWII. Thank goodness they decided to put the church back together and not tear it down. It is a unique church. I don’t think I have seen another like it.

And my OTHER favorite church is this one. I call it the Church of the Miracles as it has a an Icon of Mary and Jesus that people line up for hours to wait to light a candle and to kiss the Icon! I have done it at least twice. Well, time to go work out! The one good thing about being here (I mean there are many good things here, but for me, right now, I want to rest and take care of ME!) Anyway, the one good thing about being here is the GYM at my hotel!!! The best GYM I have EVER seen. Makes working out a pleasure—well, almost! I eat RAW so I don’t HAVE to work out, I work out because I want to work out! And I think that makes all the difference in the world!

So:
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE:
MERRY CHRISTMAS and THE BEST NEW YEAR EVER!

KISSES,
CA

Carol From Russia – Part I

Hi there,

I am sorry to all my fans if I have been a bit delinquent in answering my webmail, but I have been traveling in Russia to all sorts of small towns and big cities—some with limited web access. As it takes sometimes 6-8 hours for me to answer all of my mail and questions on the site, I have not had that kind of time in any one place for the last month.

However, I thought that perhaps you would forgive me for this fact if I would share my experiences in Russia with you.

I am still a bit of a technical “loser” as I forgot to check my webmail until I got a pleading email from Vlad (my webmaster at Attention Interactive) asking for me to please check my mail and answer.

Actually, I love to answer my mail, but half the time I’m in disbelief I’m actually getting any mail at all, and half the time I forget. And what mail I get! You guys really ask good questions! You are paying attention and I am proud of you all…..

Anyway, I will take you along on the journey that is Russia and when I have more than just one hour I will answer the questions that were posted in the last month! (I am writing this offline at 4:30-6am St Petersburg time! Imagine? And I will post it when I get web access.)

First of all, I have been traveling in some of the smallest towns and cities in Russia because since I was a kid, Russia has just fascinated me! And for good reason, I believe. The History is just amazing and incredible; especially to an American who has only 200 or so years of history to drawn on. For me, WWI and WWII were another generation and fought a world away. The Russians, on the other hand, were front and center and absolutely the object of Hitler’s lust. Russians tell me they lost over 20 MILLION people in WWII to Hitler’s war machine. Neighborly, Hitler was NOT! It is hard to think that Hitler wanted to raze St. Petersburg (then known as Leningrad) and flood it to make a big lake! When you see the beautiful buildings and architecture you understand what a loss this would have been. (Just think Le Hermitage!) But he also wanted to kill most of the residents and keep only a few hundred-thousand Russians as SLAVES!

He already had the invitations to his Victory Party in the famed St Petersburg Astoria Hotel made up! The Astoria Hotel was across from the German Embassy in the city, and Hitler wanted a full victory-worthy reception!

What a different world it would have been had Hitler succeeded!

I don’t think as Americans we have ever come that close to being annihilated.

Anyway, I believe that some of the towns I have visited have not changed since pre-communist days! That is really amazing to a person like me, who was born in NYC, as the city that changes while you sleep at night!

But it’s the people that make this country so fascinating!!

I mean, they look like us. For example, my boyfriend (who is a Russian) has my coloring: big, round, blue eyes, and brown hair. You could mistake him on the street for an average Caucasian American male until he opens his mouth. They just don’t think like us!

Besides the fact that he is extremely intelligent, he looks at a situation without empathy and without emotion. He looks at the actual center of the problem. I, on the other hand, look at everything the problem is; the emotion, who is involved and the relationships of the people involved. In reality, most of the time when I look at the situation as he looks at it, I am able to resolve it immediately. If I look at it my way, I get bogged down by the relationships and the emotion. It takes me longer to figure out the resolution!

Maybe it is just me and maybe I am too empathetic. But, man, being able to clear out some of the emotion of a problem and to just see the actual problem has been a relief.

It is also interesting to see how a non-American/non-Canadian is able to see our country and put to use English words. This is cute and charming and sometimes really funny. And it certainly sets Russians apart! In Russia most people don’t speak English so don’t think you are going to go to Russia and it is easy to get along. Even if they take English in school, the theory is way different than the practice. When you do get a Russian who speaks English or who will try to speak English, it is disarming.

Alexei, my boyfriend, is the perfect example. He eats “smashed” potatoes, and asks me to do him a ‘Favorite’-instead of a favor! And well, if you think about it he is correct, too, as he takes things literally! We do smash the potatoes and he is special to me so I will do something for him because he IS my favorite! I mean, he asks me to do him a favorite and I just about melt. He could ask me to do anything for him…..and well, he knows it.

But also, it took him being his “literal” self in Whole Foods Market for me to see how important it is to BE Literal.

One day he kept asking me: how do they have ORGANIC SEEDLESS GRAPES?

Well, here we go I thought, I have told him how organic works- why is he asking me again?

“Well,” I start out in that wisecracking way that I am when I think I have answered a question for him more than once and I think it is a language problem, “I told you what organic is: they do not use conventional DDT’s or chemicals on the plants. They are as found in nature.”

“But, Organic seedless grapes….” He kept quietly repeating.

“What do you not understand?” I am thinking and I try to placate him: “They grow them in clean soil. Soil that has been fallow without chemicals for 7 years-“
“But ORGANIC SEEDLESS grapes,” he kept repeating patiently.

What is he driving at??

He is making me crazy; I have answered this question so many times….”as found in nature…”

“But, Organic SEEDLESS grapes.” He patiently repeats again!

Oh my gosh! He is right because he is taking everything he sees on a literal basis, he is asking how can grapes be SEEDLESS and ORGANIC when the very definition of organic is “as found in nature” and, well, God did not make seedless grapes—man created them in a hybrid fashion! He was right and, of course, I had to apologize because I was not ‘getting’ what he was asking.

I am not so literal and I am used to Marketing practices which mislead the consumer. Therefore, he has become my consumer barometer because he picks out the inconsistencies of marketing that his literal sense of the English language makes apparent to him but not to me……

But this is just language.

There are so many customs in Russia that I find so incredibly different. For example, do not pass the salt from one person to another directly to their hand. This will make a Russian “rewind” like a video and force your hand to the table where you MUST put the salt down on the table so that they can pick it up. No matter how many times I tell my boyfriend that this is a superstition that is a left-over from the days where salt was an instrument of trade (like gold). To pass it from one hand to another without a bag meant that you could be cheated as salt could stick in the cracks of your hand and you could short change someone.

It does not matter. Drop the salt or drive your Russian dinner guest from the table.

Another rather strange custom is that you can drink alcohol right on the street! You can walk down the street or hang out on a street corner with an open bottle of whatever you wish: beer, vodka, or wine! No one stops you. The police do not care. It is amazing to see people at the end of the workday walking home with an open beer and a cigarette.

Which reminds me—they smoke everywhere. Even in Italy, which is THE smoking capital of the world where babies are practically born with a pack in their hand, they have No Smoking Laws. But Russia just won’t give in and every time I arrive back in Russia and I walk into the lobby of the hotel I am startled to see people walking around smoking in the elevators and even at dinner. Just as I am about to say something to the people I am with, I remember and catch my breath (mostly because I’ve got a lungful of smoke) and remember: they CAN smoke everywhere.

This includes their cars, buses, taxi’s…..which reminds me: Russian drivers are not like any drivers in the world.

I mean, I grew up in NYC! We are THE “he who hesitates is lost” city of the East! But we do not compare….

I have driven Mercedes in Italy and motorbikes in India; Audi’s in Brazil and Ferrari’s in France, but my managers and friends will not allow me to drive in Russia. Russian drivers bring new meaning to the idea of “your heart pounding in your ears.” Where in other countries it is the joy of a FAB car that makes your heart pound, here it is the experience of kamikaze driving that is not for the faint of heart.

Even Russians who have been in America for a bit of time who come back to Russia and drive end up cursing under their breathe for being stuck in one spot for half an hour as no one waits in a line.

If you want to turn left, first, you have to fight the cars that come from behind you and cut you off turning left in front of you. Then you have to battle the drivers who just push through the red light.

Police are everywhere, but Russians tell me you just pay them and move on. No points on your license…..so no real incentive to follow rules…..

Most people (at least 50%) of the country have LADA’s that are pre-World War II anyway, so one more scratch does not matter. But the fact that they have these cars, and they still are in good shape and they still run, is unbelievable. Their motto is: if it runs and gets you there, it is a car. And anyone is a taxi. If you have a car, you can be a taxi. They have taxis, for sure. But you can just step into the street and wave your hand and anyone can stop and pull over and if they are going your way, they will negotiate a price and give you a ride. Hitchhiking, it is called in America, and we warn our teenagers NOT to do it. In Russia, it is an art form: to pick the right car and the right time to step into the street to flag down that car, to wear the right clothes that will make a driver pull over (not every driver pulls over) but that does not scream money so that you can negotiate a fair price for the ride….

And believe me, on a cold Russian winter night, you WILL dress the part to get a ride. Either that or you freeze to death in the street. Nothing like getting home quickly when it is cold out.

Speaking of home, I have noticed that Americans are very interested in what the outside of the house or apt looks like. “Curb appeal” is the technical term. Russians, on the other hand, take painstaking care of the inside of their house. I have been in buildings that actually look condemned from the outside only to find the most brilliant apartments done with painstaking care inside.

And their sense of History is unrivalled! They do not take down a building because it is old. In fact, it becomes a celebrated part of their history, unlike Americans who take down a building the minute it celebrates its 20th year or if it is sitting on a great parcel of land, even more reason to clear it off and build new.
Speaking of Old and New. It is amazing to see little old Russian women selling pickles and cabbage on the streets of major cities in plastic baggies—right in front of huge new futuristic shopping malls.

This is really where the past meets the future in Russia.

100 rubles, less than $4 American, is a tip worthy of a hotel housekeeper going to a dictionary to learn to say “God Bless You” in English. While the bag of choice for Russian women with money is the $10,000.00 Birkin by Hermes. The difference between the have and have-nots is as wide as Russia is BIG!

It takes 10 hours to go from St Petersburg to Harbinsk. (In America NY to LA is only 4.5 hours)

I haven’t yet figured out North to South yet. Or if they go from Sun to Snow like we do in America from Florida to Maine.
Oh and speaking of Snow. Have I yet mentioned the SNOW? Or how about shoveling snow?

In a country that manufactures snow from September to May, it is unbelievable that they do not shovel the sidewalk. To see these little 90-year-old babushkas (Russian for grandmothers) walking on ice and snow to sell their pickles for 50 rubles in little rubber boots on dreary winter days is just beyond belief. I say ‘beyond belief’ because if they fall, there is no recourse. In America an un-shoveled sidewalk would be a lawsuit waiting to happen. Here there are NO lawsuits, which is somewhat of a relief because they have a greater sense of personal responsibility than we do in America but at the same time they care less about some public safety issues: stairs to metros and icy sidewalks being just a couple of examples.

How about plowing the streets you ask? What’s the matter, can’t you drive?

Russians drive on snow, ice, rain, sleet-if it is in the road they will drive over it. (See paragraph above on Russian drivers!)

No right or wrong on either side, just different; just one thing in a long line of little things that makes us so different from each other.

But these are just outwardly things. I am constantly amazed how differently they think, and the food they eat (they juice everywhere!) and how they view the cold war with America (this has led to some lively discussions with Russian ex-military), and how they celebrate holidays (chicken is the bird of holiday feasting for example)
Oh and how- just for the record: Russians hardly EVER say sorry or thank you. So don’t feel bad if they don’t thank you when you do something! It is just not the custom.

But I think THAT blog is for next week—right AFTER I answer my webmail.

See ya then!

Supermodel tells it like it is

Written by Bob Rozycki, posted on www.westfaironline.com

The shelf life of a fashion model is four years at best.

Supermodel Carol Alt was able to parlay her “product” – herself – into a career that has spanned three decades using a strong work ethic and fearless business savvy.

“I’ve been around for 30 years in the modeling industry and have never been without a day of work. And that’s really a feat in itself if I do say so myself,” Alt told the World of Fashion class at Roy C. Ketcham High School in Wappingers Falls on Nov. 13.

“Some girls came, and some girls went,” she said, but others such as Cheryl Tiegs, Christie Brinkley, Lauren Hutton, Brooke Shields and Elle Macpherson have had staying power.

“We’ve been around because there’s something different in the way we think. And the difference is that we think in terms of business.”

Alt told the students of Susanne Shand that “the business of fashion and the business world are really one in the same.”

Great clothes, great shoes, great fashion and great parties aside, modeling is “the hardest job you’ll ever love in your life,” Alt said. “If you’re not 100 percent focused on this business and this career; it’s not what you want to do. This takes everything you have out of you. It’s nights, it’s weekends, it’s holidays, it’s birthdays, as my sister can attest to.

It’s everything. So once you decide you want to do this, the most important thing is to focus. And that’s what I was able to do because I came into this business as a 17-year-old kid. I didn’t know from anything. Alt was waiting on an ROTC scholarship as a high school senior, when she decided to try her hand at modeling. “Always have an alternate plan,” she said. She got the ROTC scholarship, but found modeling more appealing.

Alt told the students – who are studying design as part of the curriculum – there are a number of aspects to the fashion industry in addition to modeling, including agent, photographer, stylist, and studio prop handler. “But behind all of that the real engine that makes this whole thing run is the designer. Without the designer, the model has no job. Nothing to wear. Whoops! Without a designer you don’t have anyone to print in a magazine … a photographer doesn’t have a job.”

Designers never work by themselves, she said.

“There’s the business mind and the creative mind. Gianfranco Ferre had Dario (Pagliuca). And Valentino had Giancarlo (Giammetti). There’s always a creative mind and a business mind.”

When Alt faced the end of her lifespan as a model in 1983, she asked, “What do I do now?”

She knew marketing would be the key to her success.

“Marketing is everything. You can have the best product in the world; no marketing? Nobody knows about it. You can have the worst product in the world and the best marketing and you have a hit,” she said.

“My product is me; that’s all I got. I’m not creating anything … other than showing up in a studio and having my picture taken. I made other people’s creations look great.”

She considered doing a poster as a means of marketing herself. She took the idea to her agency. “They looked like I was crazy. John Casablancas said no way. I went to my agent and asked how can I do this without John.”

She did the poster and followed it up with four others, all successful.

But she said it got boring. While living with model Janice Dickinson, Dickinson and her sister, Debbie, landed a calendar assignment for Suntory beer in Japan. So Alt asked why not a calendar for herself? She made the suggestion to her agency and they gave it to another model. “I did my own and had five successful calendars.”

In 1987, Alt was onto exercise videos. Then it was two books on health. And then it was her own skin care line.
Alt told the class that to find something that they each really love and stick with it.

“It’s a real long (life) to do something you really don’t love to do.”

Her parting advice to the class was:
“My wish for all of you here is that the decisions you make further what it is you want to do and don’t hinder it. As you get older and you get out in the business world you’re gonna see that’s probably the most difficult thing in the whole world; to do the thing that’s right to further your career and at the same time make you feel good about what you’re doing.”

Model of Health: In The Kitchen with Carol Alt

By Fabiana Santana, posted on: www.singlemindedwomen.com

It’s kind of a given that supermodels always have the get fit quick secrets in their back pockets. But it’s a pleasant surprise when one of them actually holds the secret to the fountain of youth in their kitchen.

Carol Alt has been a household name for decades. The supermodel superwoman has graced the cover of countless fashion magazines and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue more times than we remember. She is a movie star and at the young age of 48, the beauty posed nude for Playboy.

Sure, she isn’t the oldest woman to ever strip down in the magazine, but it’s clear she is one of the most confident women to ever do it. So what’s her secret to a smoking hot bod when most other women are feeling insanely out of shape? Food. She eats lots of it. As long as it’s raw.

“Raw food is all around you. It’s there more and more. And it’s great. It tastes good. Not only that, it tastes better than cooked food, “ she explains.

A Raw Foods Diet is based on the idea that raw foods contain enzymes, which help the body digest and absorb nutrients. Food heated above 116 degrees destroys these vital enzymes, so nothing is cooked through. Ever.

“I eat everything that a football player would eat! I just eat it prepared differently. That’s the end,” said Alt. “I’m not Vegan. I eat raw milk and cheeses. They’re unpasteurized. I eat meat if I want to; carpaccio, tartar, or even a seared steak.”

In her book “Eating in the Raw”, Alt explains that she was struggling to maintain her ideal weight of 125 lbs. (Her second raw food book, The Raw 50 was released in 2007.) She was constantly sick, run down, and hungry.

“I was starving myself. That was discipline. I was trying to maintain weight.”Alt , like many women, started dieting very early in her career. “I must have tried every fad diet in the book – I was constantly dieting and the end result was, oh, yes – I was thin enough, but I was also becoming ill! I had colds and the flu all the time; my respiratory system was a mess; and I seemed to be allergic to everything. Hell! I was even allergic to myself! And I was really becoming sick and tired of being…sick and tired.”

In an effort to improve her health in her mid 30s, Alt turned to Dr. Timothy Brantley, a Los Angeles based doctor who was prescribing raw juices, colonics, herbs and enzymes rather than pills and medicine. He instructed her to indulge all weekend on raw veggies, seared fish, and fresh fruits – with no restrictions on the amount.

“All I could think was, ‘This man wants me to eat. This is the most freeing moment of my life!” Carol immediatly felt her body turn around for the better. Gone were her chronic colds, coughs and sinus conditions. Her skin cleared up and her weight adjusted itself. And 13 years later, her clothes came off for the entire world to see.

“I feel better than I did in my twenties.” And it shows.

Raw Chocolate & Avocado Mousse
Serves 4

• 1 avocado
• 3 tbsp sweetener (or equivalent of stevia)
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp coconut butter
• 4-5 tbsp raw cacao (cocoa) powder
• a pinch dash salt

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Muriel’s Double-Duo Dill ‘n’ Cucumber Salad
Serves 6

When I was a kid, my mother used to make a dill cucumber salad, mostly for picnics or barbecues, and the Alt family could never get enough of it. I wondered what made the salad so irresistible, so I asked my mom. She told me that the secret was pressing the cucumbers to “get the burps out.” I’m not sure I know what that means, but to get it right, follow her directions carefully. This is a great salad. Thanks again, Mom!

• 5 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons Himalayan salt
• 2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons cold-pressed olive oil
• 1 bunch dill, chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped (optional)

Place the cucumbers in a bowl, add the salt, and toss. Place a small dish on top of the cucumbers and place a weight on top of that—a blender filled with water will do—to press down on the cucumbers, squeezing them for at least 2 hours. Then drain off the liquid, and take the time to squeeze more juice out of the cucumbers by hand. Discard the liquid. Place the cucumbers back in the bowl and add the raw apple cider vinegar, olive oil, dill, and onion, if you wish. Mix well and serve the salad in one giant bowl. Let everyone enjoy it family-style!

Yashin’s Passion Fruit Drink
Serves 3

One night I was experimenting with making a raw drink. My boyfriend walked into the kitchen and sneaked a sip of the base of this drink. He asked if he could add a pinch of this and a bit of that and whatever, and before I knew it he had the frozen berries in hand and had taken over the blender. The result is a fruit drink named after him.

• 1 lemon, peeled and seeded
• 1 pear, cored
• 10 frozen fresh strawberries
• 2 bananas
• 1/4 cup apple juice (fresh or unpasteurized)
• 10 distilled ice cubes

Drop the fruit into the blender, and pour in the juice. Add the ice cubes and blend until smooth.

Seventh Heaven Soup
(David Jubb, Jubb’s Longevity, New York City)
Serves 4

I met David Jubb at Quintessence Restaurant one day when Inside Edition was filming a story on eating raw that featured raw-food personality David Wolf, actress/chef Leslie Bega, and myself. In strolled this amazing, different-looking man, so full of fun and life and light—David Jubb. Everyone in Quintessence was shocked I didn’t know him. “You don’t know David Jubb?” “You’ve never been to Jubb’s Longevity?” “You’ve got to taste his food.” So I invited Jubb to be interviewed for Inside Edition and then went over to taste his food and was hooked immediately. Here is one of Jubb’s truly extraordinary raw recipes.

• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1 cucumber, unpeeled
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cored
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 medium tomato
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1 apple, cored
• 1-inch knob fresh gingerroot, peeled
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1-2 bushy sprigs fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 1/2 cups distilled water
• 2 heaping teaspoons unpasteurized miso
• 1/2 cup Bragg Liquid Aminos

Topping:

• 1/4 cup cold-pressed flaxseed or olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• spirulina flakes, for garnish (available in health food stores)

Grind the sesame seeds to a moist meal in your spice grinder; it takes only a few seconds. Cut the vegetables and apple in chunks, and place in a blender. Add the gingerroot and garlic, and blend with the cilantro, lemon juice, water, miso, and Bragg Liquid Aminos to make the gazpacho. Depending on how much gusto your blender has, you may have to shred harder vegetables and blend in two batches, especially if the blender container is on the smaller side. To make the topping, blend all the topping ingredients together in a small bowl. Ladle the gazpacho into bowls, and drizzle with the flavored-oil topping. Garnish the soup with some spirulina flakes.

The HR-3200: Jimmy Fallon And Carol Alt Make Infomercial For Obama’s Health Plan

Jimmy Fallon obviously hits the gym. How else would he get those super-huge guns and rock-hard pecs? When he goes, he doesn’t screw around with dumbbells and medicine balls–he lifts President Obama’s health care proposal. America’s Affordable Health Choices Act is over 1,000 pages and weighs 13 pounds (which is all we think Fallon can lift).

He feels so strongly about the results HR-3200 can produce that he made an infomercial about it replete with cardboard cut-out and brightly colored spandex. To demonstrate how the bill works he had supermodel Carol Alt clutch it to her bosom and do crunches. We somehow think she didn’t really break a sweat. Fallon went on to explain that for only 52 easy payments of $19,231,769,235 this totally body health system can work for every American.

Posted on: www.huffingtonpost.com

Introducing Rianna Hardesty

Bio:

Rianna Hardesty was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on October 4th 1988, and was raised in Columbus Wisconsin. As a student at Columbus High School, Rianna graduated in the top of her class and enjoyed participating in many extra curricular activities such as performing the lead role in a school theater production. Currently, Rianna is entering her senior year as a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Arts with a concentration in Radio, Television & Film. With interests in acting and modeling, she ultimately aspires for a career in the entertainment industry with an emphasis in directing.

Questions:

Hobbies? Interests? What do you like to do for fun?

I’m a very artistic person and I used to spend a lot of time drawing in high school. I love to read and am a huge fan of horror and fantasy novels, despite not reading as much as I’d like to due to school. Film is also a passion of mine- not only do I love watching films, but also making and acting in movies is something I find a lot of fun.

Describe your sense of style. What kinds of fashion styles do you enjoy?

I’ve always been attracted to the Victorian style. I’m a huge fan of lace, frills, and anything girly. Long bustle skirts and corsets ought to be brought back into style!

What do you think you will take away with you from this experience?

I had a wonderful time and feel extremely honored by being chosen for this experience, no matter what comes of it. It was wonderful to get a chance to actually be involved in an industry that I have always found fascinating, and I will always remember the fantastic people I met and the amazing time I had in New York. I’d love to get the chance to go back and spend more time there someday.

CAROL’S NEW NOVEL, “MODEL, INC.”, BOWS AUGUST 11, 2009

“Model, Inc”, the much-anticipated sequel to Carol Alt’s first work of fiction, “This Year’s Model”, will be launched on August 11th. It will be available at Barnes and Nobel bookstores and on Amazon.com.

“The cover, of course, features the young model who won the contest we ran last year and she’s just adorable! Rianna (Hardesty) couldn’t have been a better pick for my book and I’m really thrilled for her!”, Carol says. When Carol teased Rianna recently about being “so old” (at 21!), Rianna said, “But…but…I’m not so old!” Carol, of course, was kidding her, but she found it rather charming that even at the tender age of 21, someone can still be a bit sensitive about age.

“Model, Inc.” follows the further adventures – both personal and career-wise – of MAC, the heroine of the first novel. “It’s not just difficult to get to the top”, Carol tells us, “it’s difficult to stay on the top, as Mac (formerly Melody Ann Croft) learns. Models have a lot of choices and decisions to make throughout their careers, often on a daily basis. When you make those choices based on what your heart tells you, things tend to work out well. Choices based upon finance or ego, or that come from simple greed, generally do not turn out as well.

However, there is one BIG word that has helped Carol to become a star and to stay there! Carol explains:
“Even early in my career, LOYALTY meant the world to me and I would sometimes agree to work for less money for my old, established clients. My agencies weren’t always pleased by those decisions, since it obviously meant less money for them, too. But my attitude was – and still is – that these were the clients who helped establish my career. They had been loyal to me; why wouldn’t I return the favor?! In other words, they were the ones who made me famous, but now that I was famous, I wasn’t going to work with them, just because they couldn’t pay me what newer clients paid? No way! I’ve never treated people that way.

“There’s also a practical side to loyalty: If someone I’d been loyal to moved to a new company, trust me, they absolutely remembered me! Many times they would take me along with them to the new place – most times at double the money!”

“What you rarely hear mentioned in our business is the concept of loyalty, of being correct with people and paying it forward. But I’ve always lived my life according to those principles and have rarely regretted it.”

It’s been pointed out that what Carol has done for Rianna Hardesty is a prime example of “paying it forward”. “Absolutely!”, Carol says. “I wanted to give someone else a chance, which, I’m sorry to say, is not something I was usually given by other women. I never wanted to be one of those types; I want to help other women and give them a fair shot at succeeding in whatever it is they choose to do. I realize that I’m always being judged, based on my appearance or job title, which I can’t help and I guess that’s just human nature, but it’s not MY ‘human nature’. Jealousy and anger, based upon what other women look like, or are doing, or their success, just is not what I want to have in my life and it never has been. But I certainly know how it feels to be on the receiving end of that kind of petty behavior. Maybe it helps me to write more interesting, realistic experiences for Mac…!”

Here’s an adage that Carol has lived by ever since she first heard it when she was about 20: At 20, you have the face you were born with; at 30, the face you have worked for; and at 50, the face you deserve. “In other words, if you waste your time on negative thoughts and anger and jealousy, it’s going to eventually start showing on your face. You can tell what kind of life someone has lived just by looking at their face! Who needs that? So, I’ve spent a lifetime trying to avoid all of that.”

As for “Model, Inc.” cover girl, Rianna Hardesty, Carol and her publishers flew her in to New York, where Lord & Taylor’s provided a beautiful outfit for her, and then they even spent some time over at the Ford Modeling Agency, where she met Carol’s agents. Rianna is a full-time student, but who knows where all of this might eventually lead her?

If you’ve been waiting to find out where fame and fortune (and a positive attitude!) have led Melody Ann Croft, pick up a copy of “Model, Inc.”. And remember: Carol would love to hear your reaction, after you’ve read the book.

Carol is releasing her 4th book!

Supermodel CAROL ALT brings the inside world of high-end fashion modeling into dazzling focus — with a fabulous novel about what it takes to get to the top… and stay there.

Plucked from obscurity, beautiful Melody Ann Croft is making her way up the industry ladder. But Melody Ann is gone… in her place is “Mac” and with her looks, brains, and drive, she may well be on the brink of becoming America’s top model.

Suddenly Mac’s seeing her name in the tabloids, being wooed by billionaire businessmen… and sharing intimate late-night dinners with movie stars. And she’s discovering that the supermodel life isn’t all fluff and glamour. It’s long hours, hard work, and even harder choices — like choosing to starve or to never work again.

But does Mac have what it takes to be super? Because deep down — behind the perfect body and million-dollar smile — she’s still the same hometown Melody Ann she’s always been…

CAROL RESPONDS TO READERS OF THE OTTAWA CITIZEN

In November of 2008, just before the Playboy magazine featuring Carol Alt’s cover and layout was set to hit the newsstands, Carol provided an interview to the Ottowa Citizen – a newspaper that is close to her heart, thanks to her boyfriend, Alexei Yashin, having played hockey in Ottawa for several seasons.

With the kind permission of the Ottowa Citizen, we are going to share not only Carol’s interview with you, but also a couple of interesting responses from women who see things in a rather different light. Carol, of course, has her usual thoughtful and pertinent response. First, the article that triggered it all:

Reluctant Alt decides to go ‘raw’ for Playboy

Boyfriend Yashin ‘had no problems’ with photo spread
By Tony, The Ottawa Citizen – November 19, 2008

Playboy has finally got the “Most Beautiful Woman in the World” on its cover.

Carol Alt was given that burdensome moniker more than 20 years ago when she was at the height of her modelling career and appearing on dozens of top fashion magazine covers. But after being pursued by Playboy for just as long, she finally agreed to pose for the magazine’s December issue.

It was a decision that didn’t come easily, considering what was at stake, personally and professionally.

“I just never thought to do it,” says Ms. Alt, 47, in an interview this week from her New York apartment.

“There’s a saying I always remember when I started working: At 20, you have the face you’re born with, at 30 you have the face you work for and at 50 you have the face you deserve.”

Ms. Alt says posing nude at her age — she turns 48 in two weeks — “ain’t easy,” but she adds, “it’s only easy if you have an edge and my edge is raw food.” She has been on a strict raw food regimen for 14 years.

“The reason I showed my body is because my body would not have been like this if it hadn’t been for the fact that I had gone raw,” says Ms. Alt, adding that before she had a physical makeover with a raw food diet, she was overweight, bloated and always felt bad.

The decision to pose nude for Playboy came this past February after consulting with longtime boyfriend Alexei Yashin and her family, she says.

“When I talked to my mother, at first she thought I was kidding. Then she thought about it and then said ‘you know what, I can go to the museum and see that everywhere’ because she knew I wasn’t going to show the bottom front.”

She says Mr. Yashin responded with a definite yes after she told him about her decision to go ahead.

“He wanted me to do it eight years ago. He kept saying you should do Playboy. When I asked why he wanted me to do it, he said, ‘I just want everyone to see how beautiful you are.’ He had no problems with it.”

Ms. Alt says she also wanted to make a statement for those 40-plus women who think they can’t be beautiful when they hit their mid-40s.

“I want people to know that after 40, it’s not the end of your life. Life goes on. You can feel good, look good, be beautiful and sexy and that’s all an attitude which comes from health.”

The photo shoot was done in June over a three-day period in Ballast Key, a 26-acre private island estate off the coast of Florida.

She worked with Timothy White, a celebrated American celebrity photographer whose current book, The Hollywood Pinups, features movie stars such as Cindy Crawford, Kate Hudson and Susan Sarandon in sexy poses.

In the eight-page photo spread titled In the Raw, Ms. Alt is shown cavorting on the beach, sitting on a deck chair wearing a bright orange hat (her favourite shot) and several shots of her sprawled on a bed — Alexei’s favourite. She said while thousands of photos were taken, she was comfortable knowing that she had the final veto over which ones were chosen for the magazine.

“One of the big stipulations about me doing Playboy was that I didn’t want to be re-touched to death. I saw a photo they were retouching and I said no. I want my hips, I want my belly, I want my face there. I just didn’t want to show an unattainable body to the world. I want my body with all its flaws and problems.”

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

An Ottowa reader by the name of Lisa had her own thoughts on this subject:

Help us to look like Carol Alt
The Ottawa Citizen – November 22, 2008
Re: Reluctant Alt decides to go ‘raw’ for Playboy, Nov. 19.

Last night my partner felt comfortable enough in our relationship to share with me that he wanted to see the latest Playboy magazine as he had read in the Citizen that Carol Alt at age 47 had posed for the magazine and he was intrigued to look (I dare not say ogle) at a beautiful “older woman.”

Now being a 49-year-old woman, I felt a little troubled by this revelation and was inspired to read the original article in the Citizen myself.

Ms. Alt tells us that “after 40, it’s not the end of your life. You can feel good, look good, be beautiful and sexy and that’s all an attitude which comes from health.”

Most of us women were not fortunate enough to have been called the “most beautiful woman in the world” in our 20s; we do not have the financial resources or the time to spend maintaining the looks we might have, nor do we have the will power to eat only raw food.

I for one would have been happier if my partner had told me that he wanted to purchase a calendar of real women who might be comfortable enough to bare their bodies, bravely displaying stretch marks, sagging breasts and flabby thighs.

So for all you middle-aged men out there who might share my partner’s feelings, please do not be surprised if the women in your lives are more reluctant than usual to be undressed in front of you, support us when we decide to turn the basement into a gym, hire a personal trainer five days a week, undergo liposuction, breast augmentation, botox injections and join us every evening as we forfeit those succulent lamb chops in favour of grated carrots, diced tomatoes and sliced peppers (What example are we giving to our teenaged daughters?).

And to you younger men, please be supportive when your partner informs you that she intends to have a surrogate woman bear your children, a wet-nurse suckle your young.

After all, don’t we all have the right to look like Carol Alt in our late 40s.

Lisa, Ottawa
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Here is Carol’s response:

We need to work hard at becoming the best ‘me’
The Ottawa Citizen – December 7, 2008
Re: Help us to look like Carol Alt, Nov. 22.

I find Lisa Fischer’s letter symptomatic of the view held by women the world over. I find it sad that women want to hide behind the gene pool theory about how they cannot “look like Carol Alt” to keep from bettering themselves.

Even being called the “most beautiful woman in the world” at age 20 does not mean at 48 I would even have been in the running.

At 34, I was hardly the supermodel I had once been. Weight gain, dry skin, wrinkles, moodiness, general malaise and sickness had set in. Everyone told me I was just getting older and to deal with it. I could have accepted that they were right. I could have decided my career was over and I could have given up.

Why did Playboy magazine put me on the cover at 48? Because I was successful at changing myself into the best “me” I could be — better not only at 34 or 48 but better than I was at 25. I wanted to show other women that there is another way that worked. And that it is so easy to do. Playboy supported that.

But Ms. Fischer missed the point. And unfortunately, she may not be the only one. But then it is easier to say that I had it so easy and look good naturally, that I am blessed or rich or something.

At 48, it’s not easy to look good and be healthy but it is possible. Maintenance is not optional. It is mandatory. Eating raw is part of that maintenance. But it will not make a short woman tall. It will, however, make the sick feel better, and the moody happier. It will help the fat to be thinner, it will definitely give you energy. It will change your mind about everything.

The idea is not to look like “Carol Alt” but to look like you, just a healthier, well-kept and more in shape, sexier, funnier and happier you. I do all this to look and be the best “me.” I do it for me and for Alexei (Yashin).

The point of the Playboy photos was not to say “don’t I look great, I am a model.” Even if I were genetically blessed, I would not or could not look like this if I had not done something to save my life and limb. I would have been a fat, bloated, old lady, depressed and out of shape with scars from hip-to-hip from the surgeries that the doctors wanted to do.

I chose a better life. And I offer that way to other women. The life and career I have now was made possible only because I switched to a raw food regimen.

So I feel sorry for all the women who have given up hope and who think that making the changes are just silly or stupid and that these things are just for the rich and famous. It just shows me I have so much more work to do.

Carol Alt, New York City© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Carol and Lisa’s exchange was followed by this letter from another Ottawa Citizen reader:

Having kids
The Ottawa Citizen, Sunday, December 14, 2008
Re: We need to work hard at becoming the best ‘me,’ Dec. 7.

Carol Alt is well meaning in explaining in her letter to the editor what she is doingwith her eating raw food campaign. I commend her efforts to educate women on the merits of proper nutrition. But her choices reflect those of a woman who has never had children. I am not judging Ms. Alt on this circumstance (which was perhaps out of her control). She must realize that she is not representative of most women whose bodies have gone through the rigours of pregnancy and child birth. Further, add in the years of sleepless nights that it takes to raise children as well as the reality of family meal planning.

After 48 years of looking after herself, I am happy that Ms. Alt has found her answer to good health and nutrition. But for most women raising a family, there is a reason why we won’t look like her at this age and it has nothing to do with diet — it’s called “having kids.”

Julie
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

There is nothing new or unique in what women such as Lisa and Julie feel when confronted with the “possibilities” of how their own lives could have turned out, had they chosen different paths, or had different strokes of luck, or different genes. Common sense, however, tells us that even the wealthiest, the most beautiful, or the most talented people have their own crosses to bear. With a little concentrated effort, as Carol points out, anyone can improve, or even just maintain, those qualities (especially health and a positive attitude) which can, with luck and some diligent work (!) be a lifelong asset.

Carol wrote the following in response to these comments, which, by the way, certainly weren’t the first such reactions she has encountered:

Sometimes a cry for help can be found in the strangest places! If, at first, I saw that in this letter the “messenger” was being picked apart again and the message ignored, upon further contemplation, I realized that a call for help was actually the inspiration.

Of course, I have not had kids, but that makes no difference. If something is important to you and it stresses you, the body doesn’t know if it is “kid” stress or “work” stress. Stress is stress. Period.

The fact is, for thirty years I HAVE gotten up in the middle of the night – for my career! I have traveled to far-off distant lands, slept in different hotels and strange beds, and worked 18 hours a day for 7 days a week and that is just as stressful to me as waking with a child in the middle of the night is for some (not all) mothers.

As I said before, the body does not judge what you wake for or what you stress over, it just knows stress…!

But to answer the more demanding question, if a person with children can eat healthy, I turn to my best friend Holly. Holly not only has two beautiful daughters who eat raw (one is 10 years old and one is 6), but she runs her own successful business, as does her husband.

Holly is only 5’2” and weighs a whopping 95 pounds, but she blew up to 187 pounds during one of her pregnancies, when she went off raw. She went back to her raw diet as soon as she could and quickly dropped the extra weight. So you see, being small and/or having kids does not interfere in the ability to maintain a healthy weight and keep yourself in shape.

Holly told me that going raw was as easy as a little education on label reading, food preparation and sometimes mixing her own dressings and sauces. To her, it was just a matter of what is important! Holly’s kids are the healthiest in their classrooms, so she doesn’t mind making some of her own food – it’s better than waking up in the middle of the night with sick children! This was important to her!

She doesn’t mind having to take a minute to educate herself – it has saved a lot of time at doctors offices! Again, it was important to her that her kids be healthy and if it costs a few pennies more, so what? Better to spend money for healthier food than on children’s over-the-counter medicines.

Holly is not the only example I can cite: Donny Goode, whom I wrote about in my book “The RAW 50”, has two children under the age of 5 and when I last spoke to him, neither had EVER eaten cooked food!

Hard for people with kids? Nah! What is hard is to read that heart problems, diabetes and cancer are all on the rise in children. That, to me, is harder than
taking the time to educate yourself on healthy foods.

In terms of the complaint that RAW FOODS is expensive, no story can tell it so eloquently as that of a woman who wrote me from San Francisco (I think is was) who was confined to a wheelchair for the last 15 years with MS – or MS symptoms. She was told she had MS and took every kind of new Medicine out there. She only got worse and was in deep pain.

One day she saw me on TV. She did not say, “Oh, she is healthy. I can’t do that. I have no money; I have no way around; I am in a wheel chair. Carol Alt does not know what it is like for me!” No! She said, “I need something different. Perhaps I should CHECK THIS OUT!”

Having limited funds and resources, she went to the library, got my book (the only book on the subject of raw that the library had, by the way) and read it! She educated herself, FIRST! Then, when she “got it”, she prepared the easy recipes, shopped using the book’s shopping list and even with her limited funds, she was able to go RAW and to eat healthier.

This woman today is writing a book about her experience! She is up and out of her wheelchair (as she had MS symptoms apparently brought on by malnutrition and chemicals in her food). She felt better almost immediately- it took longer for her to ultimately get out of her chair, but she managed that too! She found a therapist to help with the physical rehabilitation of her muscles and such.

The point here is: Imagine if she just sat there and picked ME apart instead of listening to what my MESSAGE was? Imagine if she hadn’t EDUCATED herself first, but just decided she “couldn’t”?

Please, please understand that this is a simple thing to do – just a little education and a bit of label reading. If you cook dinner now, you can make dinner healthier.

By the way, I don’t mind someone who is educated on RAW Nutritional Foods to taking me to task if they disagree with something I’ve stated. That makes for stimulating discussion! But someone who has not even taken the time to do a little self-education – that is another story! I know that obviously intelligent, thinking women such as Lisa and Julie may not be educated on RAW, because, if they were, they would all too readily see how easy this really is, kids or no!

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