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REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2007
SECTION
D
Men and ascots Readers write in, please
Some men show their individual Are you an extreme pumpkin
style by tying these on. 2D carver? Send us pictures! 2D
COMMENTARY
THE CW / ANDREW ECCLES
From left: Nicole Fiscella, Leighton Meester, Taylor Momsen, Nan Zhang, Blake Lively, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford, and Ed Westwick star in ‘Gossip Girl’ on The CW. Below: Blake Lively plays bad-
girl-gone-good Serena van der Woodsen.
ossip
G irl
g WHY WE LOVE THIS POSH TEEN DRAMA
have a new guilty attend a private school in Mars’ Kristen Bell) dishes the dirt.
I pleasure. Every Manhattan’s Upper East Why do I watch this show? Normally, I
Wednesday night at Side. exhibit fine TV tastes, or so I like to think.
CARRIE
9, I answer a latent They drink martinis. They “Arrested Development,” “Scrubs” and
MACMILLAN
desire for teenage angst. have sex (sometimes with a “Seinfeld” are among my all-time favorite
The new CW show “Gossip best friend’s boyfriend). shows. But I guess I also need a taste of
Girl” delivers the hit. Most of all, they backstab, smut. Just a taste. In high school, it was
This is not just any high school drama. shop, party and obsess over which Ivy “Beverly Hills 90210.” Later, it was “The
“Gossip Girl” is glossy, over-the-top excess. they’ll attend next year. Good grades don’t OC,” which I loyally watched until it be-
Simply put, it’s trash. The premise is a guarantee admittance. Family connections came unbearable.
group of teenagers with surnames like van and trust funds do. An anonymous blogger
See SHOW, Page 2D
der Woodsen, Archibald and Waldorf who named “Gossip Girl” (narrated by Veronica
And closer to home, Oak Park Mann, was selected by
BY NARA SCHOENBERG
“THERE IS A KIND parent Suzanne Dubin, 42, says YouTube users as the most in-
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
hugging has been prevalent at spirational video of 2006. Mann
OF A MOVEMENT
CHICAGO — Beyond all the the village’s other middle also appeared on “Oprah.”
Hug it out
GOING ON WHERE
hand-wringing over the so- school, Brooks, for at least four By August, the movement
IT’S LIKE, SUPPORT
called hugging ban at Oak Park, years. had made it to the World Scout
Ill.’s Julian Middle School — “I remember thinking, this Jamboree in Chelmsford, Eng-
EACH OTHER
kids are not allowed to hug each looks like an episode of `The So- land, where “Free Hugs” signs
INSTEAD OF
other hello in ways that impede pranos,’ with everyone greeting were a common sight, accord-
EMBRACING A
hallway traffic — lies a broader each other with a hug,” Dubin ing to the News & Record in
cultural issue that has re- says. Greensboro, N.C.
COMPETITIVE
mained largely unexplored. With the aid of the Internet, Trend watchers at Teen Re-
ATTITUDE OR BEING
Hugging, once the province hugging has become an interna- search Unlimited did not have
Internet has helped make MORE (CLIQUEY).”
of clueless parents and dorky tional youth movement, with data on hugging, and trends di-
self-help gurus, has been em- teens and twentysomethings rector Rob Callender said he
KATHLEEN GASPERINI
braced by kids from Hong Kong descending on public spaces all didn’t see any obvious catalysts
hug trend an international SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
to Krakow to suburban Chica- over the world with “Free for youth-hugging in pop cul-
OF LABEL NETWORKS
go. Hugs” signs and then filming — ture, with the “hug it out”
youth movement Among the signs that hugging and posting on YouTube — the phrase popularized by the HBO
is hip: In recent years, schools quot Lakes, Minn., where hug- resulting awkwardness, confu- TV show “Entourage” likely ap-
from Des Moines to Cornwall, ging became an issue in 2000, sion and joy. The original “Free pealing to an older crowd.
England, have asked students to some middle school students Hugs” video, by an Australian
See TEENS, Page 2D
cut back on the practice. In Pe- reported getting 60 hugs a day. using the pseudonym Juan