There has been much discussion here about unusual baby names. From Superman to Metallica, we've covered them all. Today, I bring you yet another one: Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. Other than her parents, I can't believe anyone would think that a suitable name for a child. A judge in New Plymouth, New Zealand clearly disapproves. He not only ordered the name changed, he had the poor child temporarily placed under court guardianship until a suitable name could be chosen.

This story is a little different from most in that this child is not a baby. She's a nine-year-old girl whose unusual name came to the attention of the court during a custody hearing. Family Court Judge Rob Murfitt was appalled and concerned for the girl. "It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap," he said.

Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii's parents might be too dense to recognize the impact a ridiculous name can have on a child, but Talula herself is not. Her attorney says that she has never told any of her friends her real name and that she instead goes by "K".

This all took place back in February, but apparently Judge Murfitt was so disturbed he went on a fact-finding mission looking for another inappropriate names in New Zealand. He discovered a Number 16 Bus Shelter, Violence and Benson and Hedges (twins).

Bullying, unfortunately, is a fact of life for many kids. Even funny man and former Saturday Night Live star Will Ferrell had to deal with bullies. The star of the soon-to-be-released Step Brothers says when he was a kid he was taunted by a neighborhood bully.

This teenage bully was unique in that he threatened to shrink Ferrell and even carried around a vial of some sort of powder to prove he was capable of doing so. Ferrell claims he was so traumatized he had nightmares about being shrunk. Hopefully he didn't watch the televised presentation of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. That would have pushed him over the edge!

Who came to the rescue? Says Ferrell, his mom eventually made the kid come clean that the powder would not, in fact, shrink anyone. Ferrell grew up to be a major star. The bully? Who knows. But I wonder who's feeling small NOW! Moral of the story? We all deal with bullies and we all get past it. If we're lucky our moms will set things straight and, if we're really lucky, we'll grow up to be household names. Take that, bullies!

File this in the list of the stupidest things people do, you know, that list that makes you wonder how it's possible for some loser to be a parent when there are so many great people out there who can't have kids? Some jerk decided it was a good idea to leave his son in the parking lot in the car while he went in and saw The Dark Knight, the latest Batman installment.

Oh, yes he did. David Farnham, candidate for father of the year, left his two-year-old son alone in a locked car while he took in the more than two hour movie. Naturally people who were actually concerned about the boy's wellbeing noticed him crying and sent for help from the police. When the boy was retrieved he was dehydrated and scared but otherwise in relatively good condition.

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The cops noted it was 87 degrees and the windows of the car were rolled up. I think about this kind of thing all the time living in New York where the temperatures get surprisingly hot. Aside from the basic, common sense fact that no child should be left alone in a car, it was too hot for him to be out there. Did I mention it was in the middle of the night? Oh, yeah, the father went to see the 1:00 AM screening of the movie. I know an R-rated movie is no place for a child, certainly not a two-year-old, but isn't it better than being left alone in a hot car? Or, wait--I know the answer: GET A SITTER. If you can shell out the ten bucks to see the movie you can certainly afford a few dollars more to get someone to watch your kid.

If I could outsource just one household chore, it would be laundry. It's one of those jobs that feels like it's never done, and if you let it get away from you, it goes from molehill to mountain in no time flat.

I think that Maine resident Mara Ranger has the perfect excuse for giving up laundry for good. She recently reached in to her washing machine, only to discover that something was moving inside of it. That "something" was an 8-foot reticulated python. She slammed the lid and called for help. I wonder if "called for help" is a euphemism for screaming, jumping up and down, grabbing the kids, and running outside. That's how it would have gone down at my house.

They python -- which authorities speculate came in through the water pipes -- was rescued and will spend its life at the York Animal Kingdom. No word on whether Mara has recovered, but it may be a long time until she feels like doing laundry again.

British man Gary Crutchley was enjoying watching his sons having fun on a large inflatable slide at an outdoor event and thought he'd capture the moment with a few pictures. Those innocent snapshots turned the family friendly event ugly, however, when the slide operator and a parent standing inline asked him to stop, even accusing him of taking pictures of their children to post on the internet. The word "pervert" was also thrown around.

Gary showed them the pictures he had taken, pictures of his own children, and even grabbed two police officers walking by to confirm he'd done nothing wrong. He hadn't, of course, but it ended what had turned out to be a pleasant day.

In this age of easy technology, parents can be understandably protective about strangers photographing their children. But does that mean that parents can no longer take pictures of their own children in public? I think this is a case of over-protectiveness gone bad, but there have been instances when I was uncomfortable with another parents' photography. Just last week, an older couple who appeared to be endeared by my children at an outdoor event turned their camcorder on them. I was left momentarily speechless; my gut told me they were harmless, yet I wasn't sure why they'd want video of my two kids.

How do you feel about parents taking pictures of kids in public places?

Ever read the book Brave New World? In Aldous Huxley's science fiction masterpiece most people stop having babies the old fashioned way; instead humans are the product of test tubes, petri dishes and the like. With the advent of that seventy-year-old woman recently giving birth to twins, I'm starting to feel like the "fiction" part of sci-fi isn't so far-fetched.

Turns out scientists themselves don't think so either. A new report in the July edition of the Nature journal, scientists are predicting that within 30 years artifical wombs will be commonplace and it will be ethically acceptable to perform experiments on human embryos. Creeped out enough yet? They're also predicting infertility could go the way of the dinosaur, that labs will be able to manufacture eggs and sperm and that "genetic cassettes" will be used to correct diseases among other things.

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) will be available for everyone and anyone from babies to grandmas will be able to have children. It was also noted that designer babies will remain an impossibility and people will still generally prefer making babies the old-school way, as it's less expensive and more fun. Having that kind of technology is one thing, but using it is another. Ethics take interesting turns throughout the years, and I don't necessarily think everyone would agree with all the possibilities mentioned above.

What do you think? Is this sort of progress inevitable and we should embrace it, or is there a good reason why infertility exists and we should let mother nature take her course?

In most high schools, senior pranks are par for the course. Every year, graduating classes across the country try to top their predecessors with the most outrageous stunts they can come up with. Most pranks are harmless enough, but even those can get you in trouble.

19-year-old Calvin Morett had what I'm sure he thought was a great idea for a harmless prank for this year's Saratoga Springs High School graduation ceremony. He dressed up in a 6 foot tall penis costume and ran across the stage spraying Silly String on the audience. His prank was a hit on YouTube, but not so much with the attendees of the ceremony.

Earlier this week, a judge ordered Morett to write a formal apology to the city of Saratoga Springs. He must pay to have that apology printed in the local newspaper as well as perform 24 hours of community service to atone for his deed.

I watched the video and I thought it was pretty funny. But it wasn't the most important day of my kid's life, so I can see where some parents might not have seen the humor.

If you have ever seen a Reborn baby doll, then you know that they look for all the world like real babies. Reborns are popular with doll collectors as well as those who can't or don't want to have actual children. Some of these dolls come complete with beating hearts and an apparatus that makes them appear to breathe. Some of them, however, just lie there looking like real babies who aren't breathing. Like the one police in Australia saw when they peered into the window of an otherwise empty and locked automobile. Believing a child's life was in danger, the police smashed the window and rescued the doll.

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This isn't the only case of police being fooled by a Reborn. A similar incident in the United States cost a man a window out of his brand new Hummer after his wife left her Reborn in his car.

I think if you are going to have a fake baby that looks so lifelike that people will break out your windows to rescue it, you might want to add a blanket to your fake diaper bag. That way, you will have something to throw over it when you leave it alone in the car.

Lots of little boys dream of careers in law enforcement. In preparation, they spend hours playing cop, arresting their little friends and writing tickets. But this sort of pretend police work is just child's play for Landon Wilburn of Louisville, Kentucky. He found an effective way to actually enforce the law and has become a neighborhood hero because of it.

Like a lot of subdivisions, the one where 11-year-old Landon lives has a problem with cars speeding through the streets. Residents have complained to police and Landon and his friends regularly yell at drivers to slow down. But when these efforts failed, Landon came up with a better idea. He got out his Hot Wheels toy radar gun, donned a bright orange vest, and grabbed his siren-equipped flashlight. He set himself up on the side of the street and began tracking the speed of passing cars.

Yeah, it's a toy but it actually works! The speed limit in Landon's neighborhood is 25 mph, but he clocked some cars going close to 55 mph. At least they were until they spotted what they assumed was a police officer with a radar gun aimed at them. Neighbor George Ayers says, "When I saw it happening, I got the biggest kick out of it. People were locking up their brakes when they saw him."

Fortunately, Landon may soon find his radar gun is no longer needed. After commissioning a study on speeding in the area, speed humps are being installed in the neighborhood.

Barbie has always provoked strong emotions in some, but with the introduction of Bratz dolls, she seemed downright quaint. Well, she is quaint no more. With Mattel's September release of a doll based on the DC comic superhero Black Canary, Barbie is going to find herself back on the naughty girl list.

Clad in black thigh-high leather boots and gloves, fishnet stockings and a motorcycle jacket, this S&M Barbie is stirring more than little girls' imaginations. A spokesman for the religious group Christian Voice finds this sexed-up plaything to be just too much. "Barbie has always been on the tarty side and this is taking it too far. A children's doll in sexually suggestive clothing is irresponsible – it's filth."

I agree that perhaps this isn't Barbie's best look and wouldn't buy it for my kid. But that won't be a problem because she doesn't want Black Canary. When I showed her this photo and asked for her opinion, she looked aghast. "She's not wearing any pants!" she exclaimed. Good girl.

Actor, comedian and some-time eyedrop commercial maker Ben Stein, who once offered America the chance to win his money, has written a funny and telling article over at the New York Times. Most of us know by now the man who is most famous for asking over and over again, "Bueller?" is an economics genius, but did you hear what he has to say about love? Well, according to Mr. Stein, there is an economics to love, too.

Take for example what he says about junk bonds: "High-quality bonds consistently yield more return than junk, and so it is with high-quality love." I think we can all agree we've had that junk bond love experience and Ben perhaps knows what he's talking about. They're great for the short term, but they won't--and don't--last. Stein likens this to dating someone with a ton of problems and thinking you can change that person. Of course, he also notes that it's impossible to do that unless you control the market.

Stein also said something that is sure to stick, at least with me. That is that one should "fall in love in haste and depart at leisure." This means that once you've found a winner, whether in love or in a stock, that you stick with it. Commitment is everything, as is nurturing. This is true of love of and for adults, but I would bet the same is true of parenting. Fall in love with your spouse, fall in love with your children, and do everything you can to stay in love with them. Good advice? I'd say so--and take that payout to the bank.

In the left corner, wearing a garden hat and gloves, we have 77-year-old Avis Blakeslee. In the right corner, we have a crazy, rabid fox. Ding ding.

That's not exactly how it went down in Avis Blakelee's Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania garden last week, but the result was the same. She was out in her yard, tending her petunias, when she was attacked by what she thought was a dog. After the animal bit her, she held its mouth shut and pinned it to the ground with one arm, while using her free arm to flag down a passing car. She got the attention of a motorist, whose cries alerted her teenage grandson next door to her predicament. He ran for help while his dad, Blakeslee's son, put what turned out to be a fox down for the count with a well-placed bullet.

Blakeslee is recovering after a four-day stay in the hospital where she underwent surgery to clean out seven wounds in her arm and one in her leg. The fox, who was determined to be rabid, has gone to that big boxing ring in the sky.

A recent letter from the Vice President of Communications at Nike, which was perhaps inappropriately shared, has controversy brewing. Apparently, one Amanda Miller contacted one New York Times writer Joe Nocera in an attempt to pitch him some sort of stroller. Nike Communications is a public relations firm that sells expensive stuff. Joe, and everyone else who responded in the comments section of his blog about the letter, was offended, or at least annoyed. You see, Ms. Miller referred to children as accessories. This is nothing new--people have worn their babies since, well, since they've been having them. What we carry them in, as opposed to on us, has changed, but little else.

Oh, perhaps there was a time not so long ago when women didn't really leave the house and therefore, when with child (in or out of the womb) they didn't leave either, which meant no one really saw much of children until they were working age. But now, all that has changed. Now celebrities can be seen with their spawn doing whatever it is they do when they're not busy making the millions required to purchase the kind of stroller Ms. Miller is suggesting to the tune of $1,000.

Celebrities procreate--many of them doing so two at a time--and then they show them off to the world. The question is no longer what those celebrity moms are wearing, but what their babies are IN. That's right--out with Halston, and in with the Phil & Ted's chic stroller, and their new Traveller, which is actually just a playpen. Clearly Ms. Miller should be fired. Not for attempting to sell people stuff they don't need at a ridiculous price--after all, it's a PR firm, that's what they get paid to do!--but because Joe Nocera is clearly not her target audience. I can think about at least ten people, all of them women, who would eat up the letter from Ms. Miller and barely wash it down with an iced decaf skim latte before immediately setting out to purchase one. Did I mention I live in New York City? Joe Nocera? Clearly not interested.

Stroller pic by Ed Yourdon.

We all know that when life you gives you lemons, you are encouraged to make lemonade. But when life gives you an infestation of cicadas, what should you do? Make jewelry, of course.

That's what 17-year-olds Katheryn Maloney and Brady Cullinan did recently after their Massachusetts town was overrun with the insects. After the summer bug bash was over, the enterprising pair paid their friends to collect the little dead bodies. They then sprayed the cicadas with lacquer, dyed them pretty colors and strung them on wires with sea glass and beads to create one-of-a-kind earrings and necklaces.

The results are either beautiful or totally gross, depending on your own personal ick threshold. Me, I could never relax with a pair of dead insects hanging on either side of my head. But clearly there are those who have no problem with wearing wearing bugs as jewelry: the teens made over $200 at a farmers market and a local shop purchased some of their creepy creations as well.

I think these teens are great. Not only are they creative entrepreneurs, they also recycle!

If the newest celebrity baby names got you buzzing last week, try this one on for size. When Florida resident David Partin's girlfriend, Samantha, gives birth to their son this winter, he'll be named "Dixon and Willoughby Partin." That might not be so bad if she was having twins, but she's not.

Florida radio DJs Richard Dixon and J. Willoughby ran a contest where the listener with the most interesting thing to trade won $100 gas card. Partin offered up naming rights to his unborn son and won. So the baby, for better or for worse, will be named for both men... the "and" included.

Can you imagine? My husband named our younger daughter, and I love both her name and the fact that he chose it. But had he come home and announced that he sold that right for a couple of fill-ups at the gas pump, well, there may have been words. Samantha seems to be a good sport however, saying that her son (Will they call him Dix? Will?) will have an interesting story to tell.