Nearly 1 in 20 Americans older than 50 have artificial knees, or more than 4 million people, according to the first national estimate showing how common these replacement joints have become in an aging population. Doctors know the number of knee replacement operations has surged in the past decade, especially in baby boomers.

On Wednesday, CNN analyst Roland Martin was suspended for a Twitter post during the Super Bowl airing of David Beckham’s H&M commercial. Martin’s 109 character Tweet -- techno speak for succinct Twitter updates -- read “If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him!” The message was perceived by watchdog groups as an anti-gay slur.

Name: St. Andrew United Methodist Church Address: 3455 Canton Road N.E., Marietta, GA 30066 Phone: 770-926-3488 Website: www.thepumpkinchurch.org Services: 8:30 and 10:45 a.m. traditional, 9:30 a.m. contemporary Average Sunday Attendance: 400 Ministers: Rev.

Most days, Brandon Steiper felt like he was living the teenage life of Jimmy Winterpock, the main character in the book, “The Fat Boy Chronicles.” Piggy. Fat boy. You cause an earthquake every time you walk. They weren’t only pages in a book. They were Brandon’s daily life.

D'oh! What would Homer think of this? The University of Georgia will hold a panel discussion about The Simpsons Feb. 15. The event, which is sponsored by the college's Willson Center for Humanities and Arts and the Peabody Awards, will look at the show's use of humor and satire.

Former weight: 221 pounds Current weight: 160 pounds Pounds lost: 61 Height: 5 feet 7 inches Age: 33 How long she’s kept it off: Four months. She started December 2010 and met her goal in October 2011. Personal life: “I moved from Minnesota [to Fayetteville] in October 2011 to be closer to my mom and hope to move my husband and four children to Atlanta during the summer of 2012,” she said.

“Vivacious, enticing; a provocative go-getter; a bit exotic, but in a very friendly, non-threatening way.” If that description sounds like an upstart wine label’s new Riesling or a TV critic extolling Zooey Deschanel’s virtues, think again. Those are the descriptive accolades the corporate authority on color science and technology, Pantone, has chosen to promote its official color of 2012, a deep red-orange shade called tangerine tango.

A match made in heaven? Or opposites attract? February is National Heart Month, with a focus on food and fitness to keep our tickers ticking. Meanwhile, this is the month for valentines to salute the day with the traditional heart-shaped box of chocolates.

“I think we are more than just a band,” said Marc Castelo, the songwriter for Always Saturday. The two-year-old Atlanta-based band is set to raise funds for the local children’s charity, Camp Sunshine, through its effort, Love is 10K . Not a race, Always Saturday is attempting to reach 10,000 song downloads of its single “Love is Plural” for Camp Sunshine.

The pressure was on. The tension was thick. And then, there were yawns in between. The Super Bowl may have been a nail biter, but the ads were a snooze. Actor Clint Eastwood waxed for two minutes about Detroit and Chrysler. An M&M candy stripped "naked" at a party.

It came as a surprise to Atlanta Ballet dancer Alessa Rogers when Twyla Tharp, one of the western world’s most prolific and celebrated living choreographers, announced at a morning rehearsal last August that Rogers would dance the lead role, Princess Irene, in a studio performance of Tharp’s “The Princess and the Goblin.

The curtain rises on the image of a singular rose. Baroque music plays as lines of athletic dancers leap and travel down the stage diagonally in broad, sculpted shapes; their expansive arms and twisting torsos sweep through space with elegance and vigor.

Charleston, S.C., has long enjoyed a reputation as one of the hottest culinary destinations in the South, and it doesn’t take many tasty meals for visitors to acknowledge it’s well deserved. James Beard-nominated chefs and restaurants are as plentiful as palmetto trees along East Bay Street, a hub for some of the city’s most widely heralded dining establishments.

So, instead of tailgating ahead of the big game we’re all meeting up at this afternoon’s late showing of “The Artist,” right? Hey, it’s a silent movie. Shot entirely in black and white. Made by — quelle horreur! — a bunch of snooty French people. Seriously, does anything sound less like all that’s holy about Super Bowl Sunday? And a better way to lick our wounded football pride? Kickoff is set for 6:29 p.

“The Evening Hour” by A. Carter Sickels. Bloomsbury; 336 pages; $15

Cole Freeman has lived his entire life in the rural coal mining town of Dove Creek, W.Va., mostly with his grandparents, who raised him after his mother ran off.

The best way to learn a language is through immersion. And you could make the argument that the best way to explore a nation’s artistic roots is to study its folk tales. Should the folk tales be read in their native language, all the better.

Itchy eyes, sneezing and nasal congestion are nothing new for allergy sufferers, except when those symptoms show up in early February. "Patients who usually start having trouble in March are having symptoms now," said Dr. Stanley Fineman, allergist with the Atlanta Allergy and Asthma Clinic.

As Super Bowl approaches, people will be packing in the chips and dip, chilling the brews -- and perhaps debating theology. On that last point, unless you’ve been living in an underground cave for awhile, you probably know that Tim Tebow, Denver Broncos quarterback, caused quite a stir by regularly kneeling down and praying in front of a packed stadium.

A strange thing happened when the menus arrived at the table during Ilene Berman's 48th birthday dinner. It involved 10 women, five smartphones and an application called Mag Light. The dimly lit atmosphere at Cibo E Beve in Sandy Springs was momentarily interrupted as the women whipped out their phones to illuminate the very tiny light brown print on the cream-colored menus.

Former weight: 199 pounds Current weight: 154 pounds Pounds lost: 45 pounds Height: 5 feet 9 inches Age: 59 years How long she’s kept it off: “Almost three years,” says Bryant. “I began my weight-loss journey in November 2008, just before Thanksgiving. I felt that if Weight Watchers taught me how to make it through the major eating holidays of the year — Thanksgiving and Christmas — I could make it the rest of my life.

When Michelle Planeaux learned that her friend Prem Bhatia had founded Cooleaf -- a new Atlanta-based website that allows visitors to choose fitness classes a la carte -- she thought it would be fun to give it a try. "I exercise on a regular basis and I was getting bored with doing the same old gym routine," said the 38-year-old nurse practitioner from Virginia Highland.

Late last year, Katherine Stone learned that her blog -- Postpartum Progress -- had made Babble’s Top 100 list among North America’s most influential mothers in social media. It was a heady moment for the Cumming mother of two, but she didn’t think much of the news initially.

In 16 years living in the Atlanta area, Michelle Ramler has made an interesting observation. "Atlanta is a very difficult place to make friends," said the marketing director from Chamblee. In 2007, Ramler took over Girl's Night Out Atlanta, a social group for women on meetup.

Man caves aren’t just for adults. That’s what Marquita Rawlins found out during her home search. Her 11-year-old son, Jayden, wanted his own spot in the basement to play video games and watch TV.

The priority Rawlins, 27, a health care auditor, wanted to invest in the future by buying a home.

Nancy Staab describes her Buckhead condo as very French. “I am not sure how that happened, but I grew up with a mother who was in the antiques business and this is the result,” she said. The contemporary condo also is an appropriate setting for her to mix sleek modern pieces with items she started collecting at any early age (such as British coronation cups and early editions of “A Christmas Carol”) and antiques from stores and shows, estate sales, auctions and arts fairs in the U.