Sparkly moonwalk glove auctioned

SPARKLY MOONWALK GLOVE NETS $350 K

The shimmering white glove Michael Jackson wore when he premiered his moonwalk dance in 1983 was auctioned off Saturday for $350,000 -- plus tax.

Winning bidder Hoffman Ma, 36, of Hong Kong, will pay a total of $420,000 for the rhinestone-studded, modified golf glove Jackson wore on his left hand for his moonwalk on Motown's 25th anniversary TV special.

As the price of the glove soared, fans roared and squealed -- echoing the kind of frenzy that accompanied the late pop star when he toured the world.

The glove was the top item in a collection of Jackson memorabilia on the block at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York's Times Square. Its pre-auction estimate was $40,000 to $60,000.

A jacket that Jackson wore on his 1989 "Bad" tour fetched $225,000 -- 20 times its low estimate of $8,000.

The pop icon, who died in June at age 50, had given the glove to Walter Orange of the singing group the Commodores.

Anita Bailey, 43, of Queens, N.Y., said she hoped to be able to bid on a jacket or outfit, but felt the glove was out of her price range.

"I'm going to leave the holy grail alone," she said.

KIDS, KEEP THOSE LETTERS COMING

WIDE-EYED CHILDREN AROUND THE WORLD WILL BE HEARING FROM SANTA'S "ELVES" AT THE NORTH POLE AFTER ALL.

During Christmas seasons for decades, dedicated elves of Santa's Mailbag -- a U.S. Postal Service operation based in North Pole, Alaska -- responded to thousands of letters addressed to "Santa Claus, North Pole."

All that was ending with a Postal Service decision to discontinue the program amid privacy concerns. The trouble started after a postal worker in Maryland recognized a volunteer with its Operation Santa program as a registered sex offender. The worker intervened before the individual could answer a child's letter, but the agency viewed the scare as a reason to tighten security.

A reversal of the Postal Service move was announced Friday. The letters will now be answered under tightened privacy rules implemented nationwide by the Postal Service.

"We never wanted to spoil people's Christmas," said agency spokesman Ernie Swanson. "It was just a decision we had to make based on privacy concerns, and it is labor-intensive. But it's still nice that we're able to resume this and still make people's holiday."

NO LIMIT TO THIS TEEN'S IMAGINATION

Dog ice cream.

You get it right away, right? Just because it's so obvious doesn't mean it's not a good idea. People love dogs. Dogs love ice cream. But people don't like what ice cream does to their dogs, specifically, their dogs' stomachs. Neither do the dogs. Neither do the carpets.

So why not make ice cream dogs can tolerate?

Christian Liendo stumbled on the idea at the tender age of 16. Christian, a bright-eyed science buff from Flushing, N. Y., has lots of great ideas -- he's just been waiting for someone to ask him to do something with them. Last summer, he enrolled in an entrepreneurial program and competition sponsored by Goldman Sachs and Prep for Prep, a nonprofit that identifies minority students and prepares them, during summers and weekends, for private schools.

With his mother's help, Christian started experimenting with carob powder (chocolate is dangerous for dogs), soy milk and lactose-free milk. He gave tastes to friends' dogs and to his grandmother's dog, Max. Corn and carrot were bigger hits than chocolate and vanilla (an indication of the limits of dogs' intelligence).

The judges awarded first prize and $1,200 to a young woman who made vegan cookies. But Christian won an honorable mention and $250, and now he is trying to figure out how to save enough money to scale up the project.

He said that he always envisioned himself becoming a math or science academic, but that "if this business works out, that would be great."

It's just one more example of what youth empowerment nonprofits can do: dangle a carrot -- or some carrot ice cream -- in front of young people, then inspire them.

Christian's family has only one concern about the project: Max is getting chubby.

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