If it seems like Betty White is everywhere these days, that’s because she is. She started tweeting last month. She was roasted last week at the Friar’s Club in New York, where she was treated to a life-size cake in her image. And Thursday night, the 64-year showbiz veteran, former star of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “The Golden Girls,” was at Lisner Auditoruim to discuss her career and share recollections from her book, “ Betty & Friends: My Life at the Zoo ,” which came out this fall. ( White is at the National Zoo for a book signing Friday.) Read full article > >

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Betty White dishes on her career at Lisner Auditorium

Say “cheese,” and that’s often the result: A cheesy, plastered-on fake grin in a photo. Dean Fleischer-Camp, who directs the popular “ Marcel the Shell With Shoes On ” videos with former “Saturday Night Live” comedian Jenny Slate, pranks his friends by asking them to pose for photos, but taking video of them instead. Read full article > >

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‘Smile’: Video by ‘Marcel the Shell’ director examines how we say ‘cheese’

5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe. Editor's Note: Lara Creasy is the Beverage Director at The Optimist and Oyster Bar at The Optimist in Atlanta, Georgia. She's also the  beverage director at JCT Kitchen & Bar in Atlanta and No. 246 in Decatur, Georgia. Modern Americans think of punch as a quick, cheap beverage to throw together and serve at a baby shower, with ginger ale and sherbet on the list of potential ingredients. But, punch is actually a cocktail of great historical significance, hugely popular in Colonial America and 18th century Europe. Many recipes from that era survive to this day, and are still delicious. Originating in India, punch actually derives its name from the Hindu word “panch,” which means five. Classic punch always has five ingredients or elements, and it can actually be quite boozy, complex and wonderful. If you’re brainstorming ideas of something fun to serve at your Mother’s Day brunch this weekend, or by the pool this summer, just keep these five basic building blocks in mind, and let your imagination go wild. If your friends and family snicker, just remind them that Benjamin Franklin drank punch. The Five Elements of Punch 1. Spirit Unless you are in college, and your version of “punch” is made in a sports cooler or a garbage can, there is no reason to use inferior spirits in your punch. Starting with a quality base spirit is the foundation of any good cocktail, and punch is a cocktail after all. Consider making your sangria, which is technically a punch, with a high quality brandy, and maybe a wine that doesn’t come in a jug. 2. Sugar Many people are afraid of using sugar in their drinks, thinking that it will just be too sweet. Sugar serves a basic purpose in almost any cocktail: it balances acid. When making punch, don’t just think about basic white sugar. Although it has its place. There are many more options to choose from: honey, agave nectar, brown sugar, molasses, even sweet liqueurs like triple sec or elderflower liqueur. Each type of sweetener adds a different depth of flavor and each complements the base spirit in a different way. 3. Citrus Citrus juice provides the acid in a punch that the sweetener balances. Any citrus will work, depending on your desired result. Lemon, lime, grapefruit and orange all lend entirely different flavor profiles and different levels of acidity. 4. Spice Being that punch was originally an Indian creation, the spice part makes sense. It can literally mean spice, such as adding cardamom to a grapefruit, gin and rosewater punch, or it can mean bitters, as in adding Angostura to a tequila-pineapple punch. Spice can also be a tea used to infuse the base spirit, or a cinnamon stick used to garnish a warm fall punch. The possibilities are endless. 5. Water Water is essential to any cocktail, but it’s especially important to punch, which is designed to be ready to serve straight from a bowl or pitcher with no additional shaking or stirring with ice to dilute it. Water can be added to punch in the form of actual water, or it can be another element of the recipe, such as tea, a non-citrus fruit juice, a soda for sparkle, or simply a slowly melting ice block. The purpose of water is to keep those spirits, sugar and citrus from knocking your socks off, and to make them more palatable. Garnish with fresh, seasonal fruits and herbs. You can’t go wrong. Is there someone you'd like to see in the hot seat? Let us know in the comments below and if we agree, we'll do our best to chase 'em down.

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5@5 – Pack a punch this Mother’s Day

When I was growing up, my friends and I all wanted to be cool — like Al Pacino, Robert De Niro or, of course, the king of cool at the time: Fonzie. (I should note that I grew up in an Italian neighborhood.)

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Opinion: Obama too cool to be prez?

Why cockroaches need all the friends they can get

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Sensitive beasts

NEW DELHI — Saying he was saddened and shocked by the speed with which his friends in Washington had abandoned him, the former president of Maldives warned Thursday that radical Islam has gained ground across the sprawling Indian Ocean archipelago since he was deposed in February. Read full article > >

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Deposed Maldives president says coup has fueled radical Islam

Fierce fighting continued on Friday in Syria’s north and center two days before the so-called Friends of Syria coalition was set to meet in Istanbul in an effort to end the crisis.

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Syrian Fighting Flares Ahead of Talks

Marley tells the story of the reggae legend Bob Marley’s life, through interviews with his friends, colleagues and relatives.

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VIDEO: Marley: ‘The man behind the legend’

A few weeks ago, I was standing outside a posh bar on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with my friends of almost two decades. I made an offhanded comment about the ratio of blonde-haired-blue-eyed chicks to brown girls like me. It seemed like a zillion to one. Read full article > >

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The first black president has made it harder to talk about race in America

CHARLOTTESVILLE — When George Huguely arrived at his apartment sometime around midnight on May 3, 2010, he had a “blank stare” on his face and lied about where he had been, one of his friends testified Wednesday. Read full article > >

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Friend testifies Huguely lied about where he’d been on night of Love’s death

About the daters … Happiest when … Will:  When I’m in [a] fun place with a large group of friends or people I like. Shaw:  I just love being with the people I love, with no worries to distract us. Unless we are at a sporting event, where me and my friends tend to get a bit nuts. Read full article > >

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Date Lab: Blind daters go where the wild things are

Crested macaque monkeys look to their friends for guidance more than to their family, according to scientists.

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Monkeys ‘follow friends first’

One month after being kicked off a plane for Words With Friends -induced bad behavior, Alec Baldwin quietly returned to Twitter this weekend. The “30 Rock” actor deactivated his much-used account in December after he tweeted complaints about American Airlines and its flight attendants. ( Quote : “Last flight w American. Where retired Catholic school gym teachers from the 1950′s find jobs as flight attendants.”) Read full article > >

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Alec Baldwin returns to Twitter to ask questions, say ‘Happy New Year’

KEENE, N.H.— Mitt Romney talks about being prepared to wage a long battle for the Republican presidential nomination, and he is, if that becomes necessary. But everything he is doing right now speaks to another goal: to close down the contest as quickly as he can. Events are working in his favor. Newt Gingrich is falling under the weight of a barrage of attacks. In Iowa at least, it appears that Ron Paul is rising. Romney couldn’t be happier with that combination, as was evident when he went on “Fox and Friends” on Wednesday morning. Read full article > >

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Romney steps on the accelerator

As traffic whizzed past them, a group of tiny Asian women in long bright skirts and plastic sandals walked single file along the edge of East-West Highway in Riverdale, headed for the Megamart. Deomaya Dharjmer, 49, led the way, cheerfully determined to conquer her alien new world. Barely a year ago, she and her friends were living in bamboo and thatch huts in Nepal, waiting for someone to decid e their fate. For 18 years, they had languished in crowded U.N. camps, where 100,000 mostly Hindu refugees of Nepalese descent had been driven from next-door Bhutan by a Buddhist regime. Read full article > >

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Refugees from Bhutan face strange new world of Maryland suburbs