Columnist Lisa Ferguson: Trends, October 2, 2000

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, Oct. 2, 2000 | 8:12 a.m.

Lisa Ferguson is the Sun assistant features editor. Her Trends column appears Mondays. Reach her at lisa@lasvegassun.com or 259-4060.

You're kit-ing

You'd think in this day and age, when everybody and their brother seems to have cell phones strapped to their hips, that children wouldn't be in wonderment of such tiny, high-tech gadgetry.

But the folks at the Sun-Mate Corporation in Canoga Park, Calif., are counting on little ones' lust for grown-up toys. The company recently launched a line of "Build-You-Own" kits, for kids ages 8 and older -- bright-yellow cardboard pieces that can be constructed (with adult supervision, sans glue or soldering) to work just like the real deals.

A pair of walkie-talkies lets buddies stay in constant communication. It's no CD player, but the compact AM radio is cool enough. The telephone kit's instruction manual also includes phone etiquette tips and explains how and when to dial 911.

The kits, which retail for up to $14.99, are available by visiting the company's website, sun-mate.com.

All dressed up

As though society hasn't analyzed enough minute details about everything under the sun, here's something else that's been given entirely too much thought: The Association for Dressings and Sauces (yes, there is such a thing) has concluded that the way people use salad dressing says a lot about them.

This bit of worthless information -- and many others -- comes from the results of the "Market Fresh" survey the association conducted earlier this year. "Mixers," who mix dressing throughout a salad, view themselves as more sociable than "toppers," who haphazardly dump dressing over greens. Yet toppers tend to be more shy than mixers and "dippers," who, as the name suggests, dip lettuce into the dressing. Dippers say they're spontaneous folks.

Southerners, in case you were wondering, largely prefer Thousand Island dressing, while Midwesterners opt for French, and Northeasterners scramble for Italian. (Apparently those of us in the West have no preference.)

Disaster dollars

It must make neat freaks cringe: the television commercial for Bounty paper towels that follows a toddler as he dumps an entire carton of sticky orange juice on the kitchen floor. What a mess!

But the truth is usually stranger than fiction. And the makers of Bounty want to turn some of your real-life messes into a commercial. All you need to do is catch one in the making on video tape.

The grand-prize winner of the Bounty Video Contest wins a $20,000 savings bond and the video may be used as an advertisement. Fourteen semifinalists will receive $1,000 and their videos may also be considered for an ad.

Submissions (obtain an entry form at bountyfamily.com) should be sent in care of the contest by Jan. 16 to P.O. Box 4667, Blair NE 68009-4667.