Great style: He's known as the greatest professional hockey player of all time, and has won a gazillion awards, but Wayne Gretzky says lighting the torch at the Opening Ceremony of the Vancouver Winter Olympics was one of his most treasured moments.

"Obviously, it was one of the great days of my life not only for me but my entire family," Gretzky, whose father Walter had run in the torch relay, tells the AFP wire service.

The leader of Britain's Conservative Party says his party would go beyond what the ruling Labour Party is doing to clamp down on advertising involving children.

Leaders of the Labour Party met with leaders of Britain's Advertising Standards Authority last month. Ed Balls, Britain's secretary of state for Children, Schools and Families, tells the London newspaper The Guardian that leaders impressed upon advertisers the need to regulate ads aimed at children on the Internet.

New regulations are expected to be announced next month.

Not good enough, Conservative leader David Cameron tells the Guardian. He wants the government to do more to regulate advertising that targets children or uses them to pitch products.

Move over, Martin Scorsese -- you've got competition. Students at high schools and universities are trying their hand at one-shot videos featuring hundreds of cast members lip-syncing to catchy pop tunes.




Senior Luke McDaneld at Lawrence High School in Lawrence, Kan. shot a so-called "lipdub" video as part of the school's homecoming festivities, TampaBay.com reports.

With the help of the school's film/media director Jeff Kuhr, he planned the three-minute video -- which includes 350 students representing just about every group in the school, from the orchestra to the drum corps to the hip hop step team -- lip-syncing to Kim Wilde's "Kids in America." (In case you're wondering, the teens sporting Burger King paper crowns are candidates for the school's homecoming court.)

Tickle Me Elmo was always a lie. You didn't tickle him. You pressed a button in his hand and he laughed his furry little bottom off. He was the iconic toy of the decade and now that decade is dead.

Whatever he does next -- dance, doodle, drink -- doesn't matter anymore. A sweep through the recent Toy Fair in New York City revealed almost no trace of "watch me" toys like him -- toys that sat there blinking, shrieking, spinning (or giggling), while their young owners watched, slackjawed.

Which was a really terrible idea for a toy to begin with.

This week in New York City, a giant Pikachu and a life-size Ugly Doll faced off against hordes of baby Vamplets and scrumptious Pancake Puppies. No, it's not the latest trend in WWF Championship Wrestling, it's Toy Fair 2010! With more than 100,000 products on display during this year's annual event, Toy Fair is a dream come true for any kid -- but, alas, no one under 18 is allowed at this trade show that treats toys like serious business.

A first at this year's Toy Fair was the Earth-Friendly Product Zone featuring eco-friendly playthings. And though the green toys were very much outnumbered by the other 1,100 or so exhibitors' products, there were some really fun and exciting new items that are sure to find their way into a toy store near you. Here are our Top 10 Green Toys of 2010:

1. makedo Kit for One (69 pieces): One of the cutest things to come out of Australia since Baby Uggs, makedo's connector system takes the concept of reuse to a whole new level. Using nylon connectors, hinges and a safe construction tool, kids can turn found objects -- including cardboard, fabric and plastic -- into anything they want, from the most fantastical to the downright ordinary. Best of all, when that rocket ship or cardboard puppy has lost its appeal, it can be dismantled and the pieces used to create new toys again and again. Available in free play kits or guided Find & Make kits that include instructions and photos to construct specific projects. Available at specialty toy stores in the U.S. starting May 2010, $20.

One in a series of interviews with U.S. Olympic team athletes who are also parents as they prepare for the Winter Games in Vancouver. The conversations will focus on how these elite athletes juggle training and their duties as moms and dads.

America's best hope for its first-ever medal in biathlon -- the funky event that combines cross-country skiing and rifle marksmanship -- is Jay Hakkinen. Vancouver will be Jay's fourth Winter Olympics, but the first since the birth of his daughter Stella Amalia, who's just a year old. Recently Hakkinen, 32, spoke with ParentDish about his hopes for the upcoming Winter Games and about being a dad. An edited version of the interview follows:

ParentDish: You grew up in Kasilof, Alaska (population 471), a place that could be described as a long way from everywhere. What did you do for fun?
JayHakkinen: I was a big hockey player. We had a lake, so we'd clear the snow off and skate. We'd ski once in a while. Another big one was biking.

PD: Your parents set strict limits on TV.

I am pregnant with my fourth child. My previous three children have names beginning with, in order, T, B and A. My favorite names for this baby are Gerard if a boy and Genevieve if a girl, but my husband says that the kids' initials taken together will spell something that has a negative slang meaning. I didn't even know about this slang until he mentioned it, but what do you think? Does it matter what the kids' initials spell when taken together?

- TBA mom

Many a fine baby name plan has run aground on rocky initials. I've heard from lots of anxious parents fretting over the wisdom of names like Emily Zinn and Andrew Stephen Summers. Your full-family question, though, is a first. Before we start digging for every possible baby name acronym, anagram and inversion (Lana?), it's time to set some limits on how much we let letterplay rule our naming decisions.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Coming to a high school graduation near you: President Barack Obama.

The White House and the Education Department are giving public high schools the opportunity to compete to have the president speak at their commencement ceremony this spring. The winning school must demonstrate how it's helping prepare students to meet Obama's goal of the U.S. having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.

"Public schools that encourage systemic reform and embrace effective approaches to teaching and learning help prepare America's students to graduate ready for college and a career," Obama said in a video announcing the competition, called The Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge.

Obama has called for a boost in federal spending on education, including the $4.35 billion Race to the Top competitive grant program created by the economic stimulus act. States must compete for a share of the money. For some, that means changing education laws and striking deals with teachers unions to bring their systems in line with Obama's vision of education reform, which includes linking student test scores to teacher performance.

The White House will certainly be hoping that the president's commencement address proves to be less controversial than his televised back-to-school speech to the nation's students in September. That seemingly innocuous address about working hard and getting good grades drew criticism from some conservatives, who accused the president of trying to push his political agenda in schools.

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