Back from Morocco, We Get Married by Iman Ahmed bin Rahim, Las Vegas Film Critics Winners, Yost Studios Salon & Spa, Slum Tourism, Fortune-telling Leg Stolen, Movies This Week, and more...

Married in a Muslim Marriage Ceremony. Iman Ahmed bin Rahim negotiated our Muslim marriage contract and signed it. Our witnesses were, for me, Margaret Rogers and Jack Banton for John.

Three Days in the Moroccan Desert. It was so cold, my regulation-issue MV Discovery Antarctica jacket was inadequate. I froze off 5 pounds even though I wore all the clothes I brought with me and John heated huge rocks to keep our feet warm at night in our nomad tent. And I thought camping in Rwanda was tough! Regardless, what an experience! Next time I’ll wear a Mount Everest climbing outfit.

Las Vegas Film Critic’s Society Winners. Thanks to Las Vegas Film Critic’s Society member and Variety newspaper journalist, Barbara Scherzer, we were featured in Variety, the Bible of the film industry. While I did not place my vote for Best Picture of 2007 to “No Country for Old Men,” the LVFCS members’ accumulated votes did agree with me by naming Daniel Day-Lewis Best Actor for “There Will Be Blood”.

Once the votes were tabulated “No Country for Old Men” also took the Best Director category for Joel and Ethan Coen and Best Supporting Actor to Javier Bardem.

“There Will Be Blood” also won for Best Cinematography and Best Score. Best Actress win went to Ellen Page in “Juno,” and Best Supporting actress to Cate Blanchett for “I’m Not There.” “Juno” also won for Best Screenplay (original or adapted) for first-time screenwriter (and former stripper) Diablo Cody.

The LVFCS’s TOP TEN FILMS FOR 2007 (in alphabetical order) are:

“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford", "Eastern Promises", "Into the Wild", "Juno", "The Lookout", "No Country for Old Men", "Sunshine", "Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street", "3:10 to Yuma" and "Zodiac". Except for “Zodiac”, I agree with the LVFCS list. While in Morocco, I watched it again - the director’s cut! It was still too long and boring. No one was ever tried for, or even arrested,for the Zodiac murders so the movie is about the failure of police to get the killer. Sure, they finally had a suspect but were never able to prove the man’s guilt.

Yost Studios Salon & Spa. Henderson’s Yost Studios hairstylists now are certified in a breakthrough, Heaven-sent Brazilian hair straightening treatment.

I should know. My slightly wavy hair goes “Frizzy Native” when I’m in the Amazon or by a puddle of water. While I’m fine in the Nevada desert, others born with curly hair spend hours attempting to stabilize untamed locks using products that damage hair.

Henderson-based Yost Studios Salon & Spa is now providing an alternative to previous methods, one that promises to get the kinks out without destroying hair in the process. I visited the Yost Studios to see the procedure firsthand. I was really impressed. Not only does it work, the process strengthens and heals damaged hair.

The process makes hair shiny, thick and straight.

In October, 2007, eight of the day spa's hairstylists became certified in the Marcia Teixeira Brazilian Keratin Treatment straightening method, a breakthrough that makes straight hair a reality for all hair types, minus the negative side effects.

Personable and charming Mickey Yost (pictured), owner Yost Studios, researched the technique which is a big improvement over the previous highly-touted Japanese method which, in my opinion, made hair look like pick-up sticks. Yost Studios is just the second in the valley sanctioned to use this revolutionary process.

The Keratin Treatments performed at Yost Studios range from $300 to $450 (a bargain considering what salons around the country are charging), and each application lasts approximately three months. On behalf of his curly-haired clients who have undergone the treatment, Yost says they can no longer live without it.

Yost Studios offers hair styling and coloring, massage therapy, nail services, airbrush make-up, facial treatments, and botox treatments. Located at 375 N. Stephanie St., Suite 1514, Yost Studios is open from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays. For more information, visit www.yoststudios.com.

Slum Tourism. When we were in Nairobi, Kenya, a driver we hired to take us around the city offered to take us inside Kenya’s Kibera slum, one of Africa's largest.

Slum Tours, or “Pity Tours”, are quite popular and considered part of any city tour! Of course, not wanting to gloat over the suffering of others, we declined.

Kibera is 1.8 miles long and home to 800,000 of the nation's poorest in a Nairobi valley.

The Kibera tour phenomenon is considered the “in” place everybody wants to stroll through seeing others in abject misery and poverty. We stopped on a hill to take a few pictures (above), but without Madonna’s bodyguard entourage, we thought it best not go “slum trawling” through the feces-lined streets liked privileged Westerners on a photo op.

However, last week Madonna walked through the narrow lanes of the Ambedkar Nagar slum in Mumbai, India and visited a flea market during a holiday with her family.

Slum residents showered rose petals on Madonna to welcome her, even though few knew who the rich celebrity was.

Madonna stopped by at the well-known Chor Bazaar flea market but did not buy anything for her 1,200 acre Ashcombe House estate in Wilshire, Britain. Madonna was also photographed rriding a thoroughbred Marwari horse – bred by the ancient rulers of Rajasthan and famed for their stamina, bravery and loyalty.

Movies This Week. “Over Her Dead Body” (YES, but fluff), “1st Sunday” (NO), “The Golden Compass” (YES, I saw it twice) and “The Orphanage” (YES). “The Orphanage” is a supernatural drama by young Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona. It is a strangely dark and creepy ghost story set in a mansion that once was the new owner’s childhood orphanage. I liked “The Orphanage” so much I saw it twice. And even though I knew what would happen, I still screamed and hid my eyes. The audience was thrilled and enthralled by the superior paranormal tale. It’s with English subtitles, but don’t let that keep you away.

Fortune-Telling Leg Stolen. Thieves chopped off a Hindu priest's 'fortune-telling leg' to use its powers for themselves. Holy men are renowned and awed throughout India for their healing powers.

An 80-year old Hindu priest was drugged by thieves who then used a sickle to chop off his right leg, which he claimed had magical powers.

Holy man Yanadi Kondaiah has a reputation around his local village in Andhra Pradesh State for using the leg to call on mystical powers which he said allows him to see into the future.

The thieves decided they didn't need the priest to tell their fortune – just his leg.

Kondaiah is a soothsayer who has claimed his right leg possessed a rare mystic power which made his predictions come true. The locals believe in his powers to cure spiritual and physical ailments.

The limb thieves became interested in owning the leg after previous predictions given to them by Kondaiah turned out to be correct.

We All Want Superpowers. Stephan Gaghan, author of “Blink,” has written a screenplay about a 32 year-old slacker (to be played by Leonardo DiCaprio) who can read minds by observing people’s faces. The one person he can’t decipher is a sexy exchange student who turns out to be only 16.) His father wants to use his abilities to buy a steel company and cancel its pension and health plans.