Blog Posts by Lia Grainger

Celebs choose Oprah for their confessions hoping for greater sympathy and interview control, say experts. (AP)From Tiger Woods to David Letterman, when stars fall from grace, the road to redemption starts with Oprah Winfrey.

The former queen of talk still rules the roost when it comes to celebrity confessions, so it comes as little surprise that disgraced Tour de France cyclist Lance Armstrong chose her for his first interview on his performance enhancing drug use.

The Armstrong interview will air Thursday at 9 p.m. EST on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Oprah has promised a "no-holds-barred" interview with no pre-arranged conditions, reports CNN.

Following the taping of the interview on Monday, Oprah tweeted, "Just wrapped with @lancearmstrong More than 2 1/2 hours . He came READY!" She's reportedly edited the interview to 90 minutes, which will air over two nights.

Also see: Coca-Cola releases first ever anti-obesity ad

There's no doubt that 60 Minutes and other major news shows were clamouring at Armstrong’s door, so why did Oprah land the marquee interview?

“She’s not an investigative reporter

What is friendship? A shoulder to cry on? A place of forgiveness? A person to laugh at your jokes?

In a three minute YouTube video, digital performance artist and public speaker Ze Frank delivers a poignant summary of exactly what friendship is for him — how it develops, how it grows, how it protects us and inspires us.

“Maybe the greatest gift you give me is allowing me to stop struggling to find my place. We’re friends," says Frank, speaking directly to the camera. "That is the place. It’s an extension of what I call home.”

Also see: Kids sign their parents up for love with MyLovelyParent.com dating site

Frank starts by explaining how a friendship can begin.

“There’s been a lot of different ways that it’s started, and some of them have seemed pretty vague. Sometimes it’s a smile I didn’t expect and didn’t know I needed. Sometimes it’s been a slow build, sometimes a chase, but there’s usually a moment when it comes into focus. A pat on the back, an invitation, a secret, and then

There’s no doubt that obesity is a major health concern in North America, and soft drink companies have borne much of the blame for what many consider to be an epidemic.  

But now, for the first time, beverage giant Coca Cola is tackling the issue of obesity head-on with a two-minute commercial that hit the airwaves across the United States on Monday.

In a soothing female voice, the ad describes Coke’s recent efforts to provide more low calorie and calorie-free options. The voice claims that Coke has voluntarily stocked school vending machines with primarily low and no calorie choices, and says Coke is committed to looking for more healthy options, like all-natural calorie-free sweeteners.

The ad winds up with this reminder: “All calories count, no matter where they come from, including Coca-Cola and everything else with calories. And if you eat and drink more calories than you burn off, you’ll gain weight.”

Also see: Can Twitter help you lose weight?

Another ad will air later

The way you hold your handbag says a lot about your personality, claims a body language expert. (Thinkstock)Are you a Twofer, Schlepper, or Hands-Free? Body language expert Patti Wood says that how you carry your handbag — as a briefcase, fashion statement, sack, or even baguette — says a lot about your personality.

She’s broken down and interpreted the various bag holding styles for women's website Refinery 21, so that all us ladies can pigeon-hole ourselves based on how we drag our stuff around.

Also see: Lingerie for men? Yes, it has arrived

According to Wood, there are 10 distinct ways to hold your bag. Lets take a look:

The Twofer — You hold your strapless bag in front of you coyly and cross your legs. You’re shy and defensive.

The Schlepper — You have tons of bags hanging off of you randomly stuffed with belongings. You’re disorganized, spaced out, and exhausted.

The Hands-Free — You wear a purse with a long strap and let it hang in front of what you’re wearing. Apparently, you’re youthful and nerdy.

The Arm-Crook Hook — You let your bag hang from your elbow joint, wrist flopping.

Singapore's latest anti-groping public service announcement. (Buzzfeed)According to a public service campaign in Singapore, sexual assault can be avoided by “Having someone escort you home when it’s late" and not "walking through secluded areas alone", reports Jezebel.

The ads -- currently gracing the bus shelters of Singapore’s streets -- feature a woman’s bottom with a man’s hand reaching out to grab it. The image is accompanied by the ill-advised pun, “Don’t get rubbed the wrong way.” There is also what appears to be an unfortunate pun that potential molesters will receive “Stiff penalties.”

“This ad would not fly in North America,” says Brenda Cossman, the director of University of Toronto’s Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies.

Also see: $150 million dowry for Chinese businessman’s daughter

Cossman believes this same ad in Canada would receive an immediate social media backlash and the campaign would be pulled.

“It may be that cultural differences mean what won’t wash here, will wash in Singapore.”

At issue is whether this ad is another

A recent study shows that increasing numbers of Canadian kids are receiving alternative medicine. (Thinkstock) A new Canadian study has found that a high percentage of children with chronic health conditions are receiving complementary or alternative medicines treatments (CAM) in addition to conventional medical treatments.

The study surveyed five specialty clinics in Edmonton and Ottawa, and found that CAM use was highest in the west: 71 per cent of children visiting the Edmonton clinics received CAM, compared to 42 per cent in Ottawa.

Also see: Meet Brooke Greenberg: The 20-year-old trapped inside an infant’s body

The authors say physicians should be more inquisitive as to how each child is being treated outside the doctor’s office to avoid potentially harmful interactions, reports the CBC.

"A lot of people are using [CAM],” lead author Dr. James King tells CTV. "I think we need to recognize that and we just need to build it into our care plan."

For the most part, parents reported that the treatments were helpful, and the majority said they felt comfortable discussing their child’s CAM use

Brooke Greenberg (left) is 20 years old, but has the body and mind of an infant. (Facebook)Examine a series of photos of the now 20-year-old Brooke Greenberg, and it may take a moment to notice something is amiss. The same small child appears in each photo, often next to her sister. She appears to be about one year old, and in each successive photo, her sister gets a little bigger and older, but the little girl’s tiny face and body remain identical.

Today, Brooke Greenberg is 20 years old, yet she resembles an infant weighing only 16 pounds and measuring a mere 20 inches long.

Trapped in the body and mind of a nine to eleventh-month-old child, Brooke can smile and crawl, but cannot speak or walk. Aside from her spindly limbs and delicate frame, Brooke looks like any other infant, yet she is almost completely unique in the world. Something inside of her has virtually halted the aging process, and scientists are clamouring to pinpoint the cause.

“She’s not broken, there’s nothing to be fixed,” says Brooke’s father Howard Greenberg in an appearance Thursday on the talk show

This Anthropologie candle stick features what resembles a blackface maid. (anthropologie.com)What is going on with mainstream fashion retailers these days? There’s been a rash of offensive items released over the past year, ranging from culturally insensitive to straight up racist -- including GAP’s "Manifest Destiny" T-Shirt and Urban Outfitter’s “Dictators with Attitude” T-shirt, featuring Hitler, Kim Jong Il and Muammar Gaddafi.

Now, upscale hipster go-to Anthropologie is bringing the ignorance to home decorations, with a candlestick featuring multiple racial stereotypes.

Spotted by the website Jezebel, the candlestick features a range of vintage trinkets stacked on top of one another, including a porcelain caricature of a black maid with the caption “Souvenir of Washington, D.C.”, or as Jezebel puts it, “a mammy from D.C.” Historically, many black female maids were kept as slaves in the United States up until the 1860s. 

Also see: Urban Outfitters sell T-shirts calling Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein ‘part-time superheroes’

The woman's face is painted completely black