Your week
YOUR HEALTH
Women who find themselves on pins and needles over hot flashes and other uncomfortable symptoms of menopause may be able to find relief through acupuncture, according to a new study.
Turkish researchers recruited 53 postmenopausal women and assigned 27 of them to a five-week course of acupuncture (twice a week for 20 minutes at a time), while 26 of them got phony treatments.
The women who got acupuncture had less severe hot flashes, and greater improvement in psychological symptoms, according to the findings published in the journal Acupuncture in Medicine.
» Find more health and fitness tips in Tuesday’s Today section.
YOUR HOME
Too lazy, er, busy to write out a grocery shopping list?
Enter the SmartShopper. You speak the name of an item into the device, and it uses voice recognition to find it in a 25,000-item internal library and add it to your list.
It categorizes your list automatically, and when you’re ready to shop, you can print a copy.
The device, which attaches to a refrigerator with a magnet, costs $79.99 at www.smart shopperusa.com.
» Find more home and garden ideas in Sunday’s Today section.
YOUR FOOD
What’s better than bacon? Bacon with pasta, of course. The rich, spicy Italian tomato sauce called Amatriciana combines bacon and crushed red pepper for a quick, zesty treat. For the recipe, see page C5.
» Find more recipes and restaurant news in Wednesday’s Food section.
YOUR FUN
Here’s what’s on the schedule for this week:
On CD (Tuesday)
Lady Gaga, “Born This Way” (single)
Steve Martin and Steep Canyon Rangers, “Rare Bird Alert”
Rise Against, “Endgame”
Miranda Cosgrove, “High Maintenance”
On DVD (Tuesday)
“The Fighter”
“Hereafter”
“The Switch”
“Waste Land”
In theaters (Friday)
“Limitless” (action thriller)
“The Lincoln Lawyer” (crime drama)
“Paul” (sci-fi comedy)
On TV
“V”: Second-season finale of the cult sci-fi series. (Tuesday, 9 p.m., ABC)
“Mr. Sunshine”: James Taylor guest-stars as the kooky Crystal’s ex-husband. (Wednesday, 9:30 p.m., ABC)
“American Idol”: The second of this season’s 13 finalists heads home. (Thursday, 8 p.m., Fox)
“Big Love”: The popular polygamy series calls it quits after five seasons. (Sunday, 9 p.m., HBO)
On stage
“Menopause the Musical”: Through Thursday, Northern Quest Casino
Spokane Symphony: Saturday and Sunday, The Fox
Spokane Falls Community College Jazz Festival: Saturday, SFCC
Theatre Ballet of Spokane: Saturday, Bing Crosby Theatre
Around town
Big Horn Outdoor Adventure Show: Thursday through Sunday, Spokane County Fair and Expo Center
Sandpoint Waldorf School Benefit Auction and Dinner: Saturday, Sandpoint Events Center
» Find a full arts and entertainment roundup in the Thursday and Friday Today sections.