The Left Lane
Heads or tails?

The coin's distributor, Pobjoy Mint, reported that more than 25,000 coins were sold Wednesday in the first five hours of the sale.

The gold, silver and cupro-nickel coins feature Harry casting a magic spell on one side and an image of Queen Elizabeth II, who approved the sale of the coins, on the other.

The coins are only legal tender on Britain's Isle of Man, where they have a value of about 25 pence (about 37 cents). However, sources say the coin's main attraction is as a collector's item.

The first movie based on the Harry Potter series, which has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, will be released in November.

Hams, take note

Johnston Atoll, one of the world's most-wanted ham radio contact points, will become available tomorrow, possibly for the first time ever.

This is good news for amateur radio operators, who collect contact point post cards the way some folks collect stamps or baseball cards. But they have to make contact first. And that has been impossible at the elusive atoll, which primarily has been used for chemical weapons disposal.

But now that's over, and Air Force Master Sgt. Dan Spears and three of his buddies have been invited to the atoll to operate an amateur radio transmitter round-the-clock for a week.

"This type of thing is very important to the ham community," said Spears, who figures he and his crew will get 20,000 contact calls. "These will be contacts only. There won't be time for conversation."

For more info, call 449-6367, or visit the Johnston Island DX Expedition Web site.

Shading the soul

Tailor-shaped eyebrows can help you introduce your eyes — the windows to your soul — to the world. Associated Press

• Eyebrows: Never shape your brows according to what everyone else is doing; they should be shaped according to your individual features. If they are well groomed, they will always look stylish. After the brows are shaped with tweezers, fill in with color. Panagakis prefers using shadows to create a soft and natural look.

• Eyelashes: Try the "pump and walk" method by starting at the back of lashes and squeezing a lash curler firmly in a rapid pumping motion, release, move out toward tips of lashes and repeat several times. Consider having hard-to-curl lashes professionally dyed at a salon. The dye changes the texture of lashes so the curl lasts longer. (Paul Brown Salon at Ward Centre dyes lashes for $25.)