How to Live Longer Without Really Trying: Michelle Slatalla, author of the NYT Cyberfamilias column, picked up a copy of “The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest” and humorously builds her own daily-chardonnay-a-must zone, without leaving her computer.

A Sight for Sore Eyes: “Ugly Betty,” a smart, terrific sitcom about a smart, terrific woman (Betty, played by America Ferrara) working for a fashion magazine in New York, returns tonight on ABC (8 p.m. EST) for the first of five new episodes, with a pitch for a new magazine for older women, Hot Flash. The cast includes two great older women: Vanessa Williams, 45, and Judith Light, 59.

Senate Republicans Kill Pay Disparity Bill: We wrote last week about how important it was for the U.S. Senate to pass the Fair Pay Restoration Act. That opportunity was lost, at least for the moment, yesterday. The AP reports:

Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama swung through  Washington to speak from short, prepared statements in favor of the legislation. It was the first time in months that both candidates spoke on the Senate floor, an indication of the bill’s importance to voters the two are fighting for in their ongoing battle for their party’s nomination.

But Republicans were unified against it enough to muster 42 votes to supporters’ 56 votes. The bill passed the House in July, 225-199.

Watching from the Senate visitors’ gallery overhead was Lilly Ledbetter, the Alabama woman whose discrimination case was thrown out by the Supreme Court and for whom the legislation is named.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., had the best response of the night: “Women of America: Put your lipstick on, square your shoulders, suit up” and get ready to fight, she said, moments after the bill’s
opponents denied supporters the 60 votes needed to proceed to full debate and a vote on passage. “The revolution starts tonight.”

Plus: Ann Friedman at The American Prospect talked with Lilly Ledbetter, who turned 70 last week, just before the vote.

Ageist Media: After listening to jokes about Sen. John McCain’s age and TV commentators’ off-hand remarks about the “elderly vote,” Ronni Bennett of Time Goes By has had enough. The latest frustration is this post-Pennsylvania analysis by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann.

“So according to Dick Morris, elders as a group are feeble, racist troglodytes, but at least there aren’t enough of them to do harm to the Obama vote in two upcoming primaries,” writes Bennett, who earlier this month looked at uses of the word “elderly” in various media.

An Encore Web Venture for Celebrity Women: For this week’s NYT Shifting Careers column, Marci Alboher asked some of the women behind the new online venture Wowowow.com to discuss “why they decided to dive into entrepreneurship and how they position this venture with the other companies where they have affiliations.”

Joan Juliet Buck, a former editor of French Vogue magazine, moderated the conversation with Whoopi Goldberg, Liz Smith and Lesley Stahl. A transcript and audio is included.

“I was struck by the fact that they appear to share many of the same challenges and thrills of all the entrepreneurs I talk to — no matter their age or experience. And because they are all still engaged in their other work, they are also figuring out how their venture can fit in with other parts of their professional lives,” writes Alboher, who also blogs about it here.

Would You Work Out With Wii Fit?: “Nintendo’s Wii gaming console introduced sedentary gamers to the idea of moving off the couch. Now Nintendo is coming out with the Wii Fit, an add-on to the gaming system designed to appeal to women looking to lose weight,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

The $90 attachment, dubbed the “Balance Board,” expands the range of games that can be played on the Wii to include activities such as yoga and push-ups. The Balance Board — which resembles bathroom scales — also tracks a user’s weight and body-mass index. […]

As part of the PR push, “Good Morning America” host Diane Sawyer tested the exercise game on the air last week. “It really does make you work,” Ms. Sawyer told viewers. Since its release about 18 months ago, the Wii has been a smash hit — so much so that it’s still difficult to buy in the U.S. In Japan, where the Wii Fit is on the market, it has also proved hugely popular. Still, the new product is something of a gamble, moving Nintendo away from core young-male gamers, who could be turned off by the fact that Mom and girls think the Wii Fit is cool.

An interview with Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales and marketing, follows.