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Quote Of The Day

2012-01-28T10:08:00.002-05:00

Life is so ironic. It takes sadness

to know what happiness is, noise to

appreciate silence and absence to

value presence - author unknown

Life is never perfect. Life is filled

with obstacles to make you wiser and

grow to who you are today. So love

yourself first and you will love life

even more - author unknown

Humor: When I Was A Kid...........

2012-01-26T13:04:00.003-05:00

When
I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears
with their tedious diatribes about how hard
things were. When they were growing up; what
with walking twenty-five miles to school every
morning....
Uphill...
Barefoot...
BOTH
ways… yadda, yadda, yadda
And
I remember promising myself that when I grew up,
there was no way in hell I was going to
lay
a bunch of
crap like that on my kids about how hard I had
it and how easy they've
got it!
But
now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I
can't help but look around and notice the youth
of today. You've got it so easy! I
mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a
damn Utopia!
And
I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't
know how good you've got
it!
I
mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the
Internet. If we wanted to know something,
we had to go to the damn library and look it up
ourselves, in the card
catalog!!
There
was no email!! We had to actually write
somebody a letter - with a
pen!
Then
you had to walk all the way across the street
and put it in the mailbox, and it would take
like a week to get there! Stamps were 10
cents!
Child
Protective Services didn't care if our parents
beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents
of all my friends also had permission to kick
our ass! Nowhere was safe!
There
were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes! If
you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike
to the record store and shoplift it
yourself!
Or
you had to wait around all day to tape it off
the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over
the beginning and @#*% it all up! There
were no CD players! We had tape decks in
our car. We'd play our favorite tape and
"eject" it when finished, and then the tape
would come undone rendering it useless.
Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby!
Dig?
We didn't have
fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were
on the phone and somebody else called, they got
a busy signal, that's it!
There
weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you
left the house, you just didn't make a damn call
or receive one. You actually had to be out of
touch with your "friends". OH MY GOD !!!
Think of the horror... not being in touch
with someone 24/7!!! And then there's
TEXTING. Yeah, right. Please!
You kids have no idea how annoying you
are.
And we didn't have
fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you
had no idea who it was! It could be your
school, your parents, your boss, your bookie,
your drug dealer, the collection agent... you
just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up
and take your chances, mister!
We
didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video
games with high-resolution 3-D graphics!
We
had
the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space
Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your screen guy
was a little square! You actually had to
use your imagination!!! And there were no
multiple levels or screens, it was just one
screen... Forever! And you could never
win. The game just kept getting harder and
harder and faster and faster until you died!
Just like LIFE!
You had to use a
little book called a TV Guide to find out what
was on! You were screwed when it came to channel
surfing! You had to get off your ass and
walk over to the TV to change the channel!!!
NO REMOTES!!! Oh, no, what's the
world coming to?!?!
There
was no Cartoon Network either! You could only
get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you
hear what I'm saying? We had to wait
ALL
WEEK
for cartoons, you spoiled little
rat-finks!
And
we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to
heat something up, we had to use the stove!
Imagine that!
And
our parents told us to stay outside and play...
all day long. Oh, no, no electronics to
soothe and comfort. And if you came back
inside... you were doing chores!
And
car seats - oh, please! Mom threw you in
the back seat and you hung on. If you were
lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest
at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly,
and if your head hit the dashboard, well that
was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the
first place!
See!
That's exactly what I'm talking about! You
kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled
rotten! You guys wouldn't have lasted five
minutes back in 1980
or
any time before!
Regards,
The
Over 40 Crowd

Fast Facts: 20 things discovered by accident

2012-01-25T18:18:00.000-05:00

20. Post-its
In 1970, Spencer Silver, a researcher for 3M, had been trying to formulate
a strong adhesive, but ended up only managing to create a very weak
glue that could be removed almost
effortlessly. He promoted his invention within 3M, but at the time
nobody took notice. Four years later, Arthur Fry, a 3M colleague and
member of his church choir, was irritated by the fact that the slips of
paper he placed in his hymnal to mark the pages would usually fall out
when the book was opened. One service, he recalled the work of Spencer
Silver and later applied some of Silver's weak yet non-damaging adhesive
to his bookmarks. He found that the little sticky markers worked
perfectly, and sold the idea to 3M through an internal idea incubator.
Trial marketing began in 1977, and today it is hard to imagine life
without the sticky post-it note.

19. Superglue Superglue came into being in 1942 when Dr Harry Coover was trying to isolate a
clear plastic to make precision gun sights for handheld weaponry. For a
while he was working with chemicals known as cyanoacrylates, which it
was discovered polymerized on contact with moisture, causing all the
test materials to bond together. This was not going to work for the task
at hand and so research moved on. Six years later, Coover was working
in a Tennessee chemical plant and realized the potential of the
substance when testing showed that the adhesives required neither heat
nor pressure to form a strong bond. Thus, after a certain amount of
commercial refinement, Superglue (full name: Alcohol-Catalyzed
Cyanoacrylate Adhesive Composition) was born. It was later used for
treating injured soldiers in Vietnam – the adhesive could be sprayed on open wounds, stemming
bleeding and allowing easier transportation of soldiers. A discovery
made during an effort to improve guns ended up saving lives.
18. FingerprintingAlthough the science of fingerprinting began with the work of Francis Galton in
the nineteenth century, detectives still had trouble locating the
tell-tale marks. In 1982, some researchers at the US Army Criminal
Investigation Laboratory in Japan cracked a fish tank. When they patched
it
together with superglue (cyanoacrylate), they noticed the fingerprints
on the glass standing out in relief. The fumes from the glue had
condensed on oils in the prints, rendering them highly visible.
Cyanoacrylate is now an important weapon in the forensic scientist's
armoury.
17. Velcro Velcro was accidentally invented in 1948 by a Swiss engineer who had just been
walking his dog. When George de Mestral got home, he noticed that both
he and his pet were covered in burrs. Apparently acting on the impulse
of an idea, he plucked one of the burrs from his cloth jacket and
placed it under his microscope where under magnification the detail of
the burr was revealed. It was covered with hooked strands, and these, he
realised, would inevitably cling to the fur or cloth of whatever rubbed
up against it. In the case of his jacket, Mistral reasoned that the
hooks formed an even firmer bond by slotting into tiny loops in the
fabric. Mistral realized that the microscopic principle could be used to
develop a fastening device, but it took him several years to perfect
his invention. The main difficulty was getting the 'loop' side of the
fastener right (the 'hook' side was more straightforward). The solution
turned out to be sewing the loops from nylon under infra-red light. In
1951, Mistral applied for a Swiss patent for an early version of his
fastening system and named it 'Velcro', after the French words velours
(meaning velvet) and crochet (hook). In
1955, he obtained a US patent for his invention, and two years later
Velcro went into production in Manchester, New Hampshire. Before long,
the company was selling 60 million yards per annum.
16. Teflon Teflon was invented in 1938 by a DuPont research chemist named Roy J plunkett.
One day he was experimenting with a coolant called TRE
(tetrafluoroethylene) to establish its suitability for refrigeration
purposes. For some reason, the pressurised cylinder of the gas filled
earlier by Plunkett's assistant
failed to discharge properly when the valve was opened and, dismissing
all safety rules they cut it open to see what had happened. Instead of a
violent explosion, they found that the gas had solidified inside the
cylinder to form a strangely slippery white powder. Tests revealed that
it was inert and had an extremely high melting point. DuPont registered
Teflon as a trademark in 1945 and started marketing products coated with
the miracle lubricant the following year. Since then, Teflon has not
only been used for a variety of things, from frying pans to microchips
to rocket shields and space suits andn even bad guys as the nickname of
the "Teflon Don" John Gotti, to whom no charges would stick.
15. Cellophane In 1900, Jaques E Brandenberger saw red wine spill onto a restaurant
tablecloth, and legend has it that he decided at that point there must
be a way to protect fine materials from this type of damage. But
inventing a clear flexible film that could provide a waterproof layer
for tablecloths was not as easy as he had expected. His experiments
seemed only to render the cloth stiff, not waterproof. Brandenberger
noticed at one point that the coating on on one version peeled off
as a transparent film. Instinct said that it was not a useless
by-product but perhaps a shift in the direction of his work and he set
about developing a machine for the mass manufacture of what we know
today as 'cellophane'.
14. VaselineIn 1859 Robert Chesebrough went to seek his fortune in the oilfields of
Pennsylvania. Soon after his arrival, Chesebrough noticed the oil
workers complaining about something they called 'rod wax', a substance
that formed on their drilling equipment and gummed it up. It's single
redeeming
feature was its ability to speed up the healing of small cuts and
bruises. Chesebrough took a sample of 'rod wax' back to his laboratory
in Brooklyn. In time he determined how to isolate the substance from the
ordinary petroleum and started to experiment with it, subjecting
himself to all manner of cuts and burns before applying the petroleum
jelly. Everything healed magnificently. To popularise his invention,
Chesebrough have it the name 'Vaseline' (from Wasser, the German for
water and Elaion, Greek for oil). Then he embarked on a singularly
masochistic road show, demonstrating his faith in his product by
wounding himself in public before applying it. Soon he was selling a jar
a minute. His customers used Vaseline for every conceivable purpose
from cleaning nasal congestion to cleaning furniture. By the end of the
nineteen-century, Chesebrough was extremely rich and his petroleum jelly
was breaking into Europe. Cheseborough persisted with his
'practise what you preach' attitude toward Vaseline throughout his
life. Shortly before he died at the impressive age of 96, he revealed
that he had been eating a spoonful of the stuff every day for many
years.
13. Stainless Steel Harry Brearley was working to prevent corrosion in rifle barrels when he
accidentally invented something interesting. Brearley had a background
in steel. His father was a steel melter and young Harry had followed his
father into the industry. Through years of private
study and night school he became an expert in the analysis of steel and
in 1908, at the age of 37, was given the opportunity to set up the
Brown Firth Laboratories for research purposes where he was given the
job of looking at improving rifle barrels. The problem: when the gun was
fired, the heat and gases generated would quickly erode away the inner
barrel. Brearley was given the task of finding a steel that would not
erode away. Brearley made history on 13 August 1913 when his mix 0.24%
carbon and 12.8% chromium with steel created the first ever stainless
steel. And although Brearley didn't immediately realise what he had
created, the resistance of the metal to acids such as vinegar and lemon
juice soon pointed him in the right direction. At that time cutlery was
made from silver or carbon steel, or plated with nickel. None of which
were resistant to rust, so Brearley launched his 'rustless steel', later
renamed as the more catchy stainless
steel.
12. Blue Jeans Jacob Youphes was born in 1834 in Riga Latvia. He came to the US and then to
San Francisco in the 1854 and changed his name to Jacob Davis. He
operated a tailor shop in New York City and Augusta, Maine. By 1869, he
had opened a tailor shop on the town's main thoroughfare, Virginia
Street, where e began fabricating wagon covers and tents from a rugged
off-white duck cloth sold by San Francisco's Levi Strauss & Co. In
1868 Jacob settled in Reno, Neveda tailoring fine clothing and
manufacturing utilitarian items such as tents and horse blankets from
"duck" (a sturdy cotton fabric) with copper rivets for added strength.
In the late 1870s a woman came to him for a pair of "cheap" pants for
her "large" husband who had the habit of going through pants rather
quickly. Having found that thread alone did not always adequately hold
the pockets onto work pants, Jacob decided to try out rivets, which had
proven their worth on horse blankets on the pockets for these pants. By
1871 Davis was routinely using rivets on the pants he made, first on
duck, soon after on denim, and was beginning to be imitated by other
tailors. He contacted Levi Strauss, his fabric supplier, to help him
apply for a patent. The patent application was rejected several times by
the patent office but finally granted jointly in the names of Davis and
Levi Strauss & Company on May 20, 1873. The term "Levi's," though,
was not the company's–it
originated with the public, just as the public invented the term "coke"
for Coca-Cola. But when the public started referring to the pants
generically as "Levi's," the company quickly trademarked it.
Unfortunately, because Davis didn't insist on his name being included in
the product name, Levi Strauss' name alone became a synonym for the
pants, leading to the spread of a myth that Strauss invented them.
11. PenicillinIn 1928, British researcher Alexander Fleming unexpectedly discovered
penicillin, the active ingredient in a mold that has potent
infection-fighting abilities. At the time, Fleming determined that the
penicillin was too unstable to work with. However, within 10 years, the
Oxford team of Howard Florey and Ernst Chain was able to successfully
purify a form of penicillin in sufficient concentration to offer
therapeutic value in the treatment of human disease. With the help of
the British government, Florey and Chain used a beer-brewing technology
to produce the quantities of moldy liquor needed for large-scale
penicillin production. When demand outstripped their production
capacity, Florey went to the United States to establish mass-production
agreements with U.S. pharmaceutical companies.
10. The Microwave OvenDuring World War II, two scientists invented the magnetron, a tube that
produces microwaves. It was during a radar-related research project
around 1946 that Dr. Percy Spencer, a self-taught engineer with the
Raytheon Corporation, was testing a new type of magnetron when he
discovered that the candy bar in his pocket had melted. This intrigued
Dr. Spencer, so he tried another experiment. This time he placed some
popcorn kernels near the tube and the popcorn popped all over his lab.
Spencer decided to put the magnetron tube
near an egg, which also cooked. The scientist thought if popcorn and a
egg can be cooked that quickly, why not other foods? In 1947, Raytheon
built the Radarange, the first microwave oven in the world. It was
almost 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, weighed 750 pounds (340 kg) and cost close
to $5,000. It was water-cooled, so also required built-in plumbing.
9. Ice Cream ConesBefore 1904, ice cream was served on dishes. It wasn't until the World's Fair
of that year, held in St Louis, Missouri, that two
seemingly unrelated food items were paired. It happened that the
weather during the event was very hot, and given the combination of
temperature and crowds, a stall selling ice cream quickly ran out of
dishes. The neighboring stall was selling a type of wafer waffle – and
since his business was lagging he offered to help out the overly busy
ice cream vendor. The spontaneous innovation was to roll his Zalabia
into cone shapes and place the ice cream on top, which was an instant
hit. This may be legend to a certain, as it was known that edible cones
were being served in England prior to the 1904 World's Fair.
8. Champagne
Although Dom Perignon did not invent Champagne, he did develop many advances in
production of the drink, including holding the cork in place with a wire
collar to withstand the fermentation pressure. In France, the first
sparkling Champagne was created accidentally; its pressure led it to be
called "the devil's wine" as bottles exploded or the cork jolted away.
7. Potato chips/crispsDuring one summer of 1853, Chef George Crum of Moon Lake Lodge Restaurant, in
Saratoga Springs, New York, prepared the regular French-fried potatoes
for a fastidious dinner guest who promptly rejected them for being too
thick. Chef Crum served that diner with a thinner batch which was also
rejected. Annoyed and exasperated, the chef decided to get back at the
tough diner by making the potatoes so thin and crisp that even the fork
could not skewer them. Instead of riling that diner, the paper-thin and
crispy potato slices appealed to that diner so much he requested for
more. Soon, all the other diners began to request for the paper-thin and
crispy potato chips and they became a regular, house specialty item
called Saratoga Chips on the menu. The popularity of the paper-thin
potato chips grew quickly and soon it was packaged and sold as a
portable convenience food. Eventually, Chef Crum opened his own chips
restaurant.
6. The Slinky
Like Silly Putty, the Slinky was an accidental by-product of World War II
research and development transformed into a hugely successful children's
toy. In 1943, engineer Richard James of greater Philadelphia was
working in his home laboratory to invent a set of springs that could be
used to support sensitive instruments on board ships and stabilize them
even in rough seas. When he once accidentally knocked one of his springs
off a shelf, James saw that, rather than flopping in a heap onto the
floor, the
spring "stepped" in a series of arcs from the shelf, to a stack of
books, to a tabletop, to the floor, where it re-coiled itself and stood
upright. He and his wife, who is credited with coming up with the name
"Slinky", founded James Industries, in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, to
market their product. Richard invented machines that could coil 80 feet
of steel wire into a Slinky in about 10 seconds. By the time of its 50th
anniversary (1995), that same company, using those same machines, had
sold over a quarter of a billion Slinkys, all over the world. While the
toy is cool, it can be argued that the real invention was the machine
that can take 80 feet of steel wire and coil it into a Slinky in 10
seconds. Now that's an invention.
5. The PacemakerCanadian, John Hopps invented the first cardiac pacemaker. Hopps was trained as an electrical engineer at the University of Manitoba and joined the National Research Council in 1941, where he conducted research on hypothermia. While experimenting
with radio frequency heating to restore body temperature, Hopps made an
unexpected discovery: if a heart stopped beating due to cooling, it
could be started again by artificial stimulation using mechanical or
electric means. This lead to Hopps' invention of the world's first
cardiac pacemaker in 1950. His device was far too large to be implanted
inside of the human body. It was an external pacemaker.
4. The Popsicle
In 1905, the Popsicle was invented by an 11 year-old Frank Epperson. He
had left his fruit flavored soda
outside on the porch with a stir stick in it. The drink froze
overnight, and the next morning he discovered the frozen treat. He
originally called it the "Epsicle" (no relation to the Epilady), which
his children later re-named to the more palatable "Popsicle."
3. Brandy
Medieval wine merchants used to boil the H20 out of wine so the cargo would keep
better and take up less space at sea. Removing the water also made the
load less expensive to ship, since tax was assessed by volume. Legend
has it that the intent was to add the water removed by distillation back
to the brandy before consumption, essentially to turn it back into
wine, but after having been stored in wooden casks, the resulting
product had improved over the original distilled spirit.
2. LSDWow man. The unintentional discovery of
d-lysergic acid diethylamide tartrate-LSD-25 took place in in 1938 by
Swiss scientist Albert Hoffman. The actual discovery of LSD as a
hallucinogen occurred when Dr Hoffman was involved in pharmaceutical
research in Basel, Switzerland, hoping to produce drugs that would help
ease the pain of childbirth. Having synthesized what would later become
known as LSD; Hoffman catalogued the untested substance and placed it in
storage, after finding nothing particularly interesting about it during
the initial analysis. Five years later Hoffman discovered the true
properties of the compound after inadvertently absorbing a dose of it
when handling the chemical at work without wearing gloves. On his
bicycle ride back home he observed "an uninterrupted stream of fantastic
pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of
colors". Early researcher Dr Richard Alpert claimed to have administered
LSD to 200 test subjects by 1961, and reported that
85% of his test subjects said that the experience was the "most
educational" of their lives. Francis Crick,
the Nobel Prize-winning father of modern genetics, was under the
influence of LSD when he first deduced the double-helix structure of DNA
nearly 50 years ago.
1. X-Rays
Wilhelm Roentgen, Professor of Physics in Worzburg, Bavaria, was the first
person to discover the possibility of using electromagnetic radiation to
create what we now know as the x-ray. Roentgen was exploring the path
of electrical rays passing from an induction coil through a partially
evacuated glass tube. Although the tube was covered in black paper and
the room was completely dark, he noticed that a screen covered in
fluorescent material was illuminated by the rays. He later realised that
a number of objects could be penetrated by these rays, and that the
projected image of his own hand showed a contrast between the opaque
bones and the translucent flesh. He later used a photographic plate
instead of a screen, and an image
was captured. For the first time ever the internal structures of the
body could be made visible without the necessity of surgery. The first
image created by his x-ray Roentgen was an image of his wife's hand,
noted by the wedding ring

Happy Chinese New Year

2012-01-23T17:39:00.003-05:00

2012 Chinese New Year Day is on January 23, 2012
the Astrological Year of Dragon begins on February 4, 2012

Credits: http://www.chinapage.com/newyear.html
http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/2012.htm

The first day of the 2012 Chinese New Year is on January 23, 2012 in China's time zone. This day is a new moon day, and is the first day of the first Chinese lunar month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar system. The exact new moon time is at 15:40 on 23-Jan-12 in China's time zone.
The Year 2012 is the 4709th Chinese year. The Chinese believe that the first king of China was the Yellow King (he was not the first emperor of China). The Yellow King became king in 2697 B.C., therefore China will enter the 4709th year on January 23, 2012. Also, the Chinese Year uses the cycle of 60 Stem-Branch counting systems and the Black Water Dragon is the 28th Stem-Branch in the cycle. Since (60 *78) + 29 = 4709, therefore 2012 is the Water Dragon year, which is the 4709th Chinese Year.
Some web sites say the year 2012 is the 4710th Chinese year. If you cannot find the explanation as to why, here is a possible answer for you. The Yellow King's inauguration was held in the spring of 2697 B.C. But the day that was used as the first day of the year was the winter solstice, which was around December 23rd, 2698 B.C. Today's January 1st meant nothing to the Yellow King. If we count that extra eight days in 2698 B.C., then year 2012 is the 4710th Chinese year.
2012 is the year of Dragon. Some people say 2012 is a Black Dragon or Water Dragon year. This is because the Stem-Branch Calendar is connected to the Five Element theory. Chinese calendars used the Stem-Branch system to count the days, months and years. There are 10 Stems and 12 Branches in this system. Stems are named by the Yin-Yang and Five Elements (Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth). The Stem sequence order is Yang Wood, Yin Wood, Yang Fire, Yin Fire, Yang Earth, Yin Earth, Yang Metal, Yin Metal, Yang Water and Yin Water. Branches use animal names.
The Branch sequence order is Rat, Cow, Tiger, Dragon, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Chicken, Dog and Pig. Stem and Branch are used together to form a cycle of 60 counting systems which begin with Wooden Rat and end with Water Pig. You can see the entire sequence from the Chinese New Year's page. From 1924 to 1983 is a complete cycle. Year 2012 is Male Water Dragon the 29th of the Stem-Branch in the system. Because Water is connected to Black in the Five-Element system, Year 2012 is also called the Black Dragon year.

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Fast Facts

2012-01-23T17:29:00.001-05:00

Did you know:

Quarters are made out of an alloy (a mixture of metals) of

91.67 percent copper and 8.33 percent nickel

(before 1965, the quarter was made out of silver).

Blog Spotlight - Valentine's WordArt

2012-01-18T09:53:00.001-05:00

To receive this great Valentine's Word art please

http://kelseyll.blogspot.com/2012/01/freebie-for-you.html.

I am only posting a great site to visit and did not create this word art.

http://kelseyll.blogspot.com/2012/01/freebie-for-you.html

Scrap Blogs/Sites, Stores are constantly changing their Freebie Offers.
I'm only sharing this Site and there is absolutely nothing

I can do when a Link/Download is expired or not work!!!

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The Ultimate Measure Of A Man

2012-01-16T21:09:00.003-05:00

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love, 1963
US black civil rights leader & clergyman (1929 - 1968)

 http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/24973.html

Valentine's Day Countdown- Love Me Tender

2012-01-13T05:14:00.001-05:00

LOVE ME TENDER

MOVIE:

Love Me Tender (1956) is Elvis' first film, a Western situated just after the Civil War.

Elvis playing Clint Reno gets married to his brother's girl thinking his brother died in the war,

but after the supposedly dead brother shows up on the scene, troubles follow with a tragic ending.

The film has four songs, including the wonderful love ballad "Love Me Tender", which of course also gives the movie its name.

Music:
With the doubtful guidance of 'Colonel' Tom Parker, a Dutch immigrant made an honorary colonel,

in 1956 Elvis was contracted into his first role, in a movie to be called Love Me Tender.

And it was decided that in it he would sing his first-ever non-rock ballad. (Sic)

So a song was needed. The music director on the movie was Ken Darby,

who found the 95-year-old melody Aura Lee. The simple tune needed no restructuring, but new words were called for.

It is believed that Darby himself was responsible for the revised lyrics, but he gave

the credits to his wife Vera Matson - and Presley. So was born the song Love Me Tender.

Elvis recorded it in August 1956 on a large sound stage without his usual band and backing singers.

The second take was declared satisfactory and Love Me Tender was unleashed on a Presley-enthusiastic world.

It topped the Billboard chart, remaining number one for five weeks.

http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/the_story_behind_the_song_love_me_tender.shtml

MODERN GRAPHICS:

Advice From A Leader

2012-01-11T12:58:00.000-05:00

Leader of a major company, famous author and columnist, father, husband Ken Fisher clearly has a lot on his plate. How does he manage to stay so productive? "I relaxed once and I never want to go through that again," Fisher says with a wry smile. "When I was young," he continues on a more serious note, "I got in my bones how compound interest works. Compound interest deployed right is magic, not just in finance, but in all of life. I compound my human capital at a slightly higher annual rate than most folks do because most don't try to--and I never, ever stop compounding."

160 Beautiful Valentines Day Wallpaper HD

2012-01-09T08:56:00.000-05:00

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=T4A1441T

You can choose regular download for free use.

Be Happy

2012-01-07T09:06:00.000-05:00

Be happy, doll, flower, joy.

Today's Joke

2012-01-07T08:56:00.000-05:00

If you had purchased $1,000 of AIG stock one year ago,

you would have $42 left.

With Lehman, you would have $6.60 left.

With Fannie or Freddie, you would have less than $5 left

But if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago,

drank all of the beer, then turn in the cans for the aluminum recycling Refund,

you would have had $214.

Based on the above,

the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.

It’s called the 401-Keg…..

Families Moving In Together

2012-01-06T20:13:00.000-05:00

"FAMILIES MOVING IN TOGETHER

Families moving in together are no longer looked down on as needy for anyone, but mandatory for everyone. I can remember when three generations occupied the same home and if that comes back in vogue, nothing but good can become of it for all. Everyone chips in and life can be very good too'

http://activerain.com/blogs/ernbone"

Leave a comment. Let me know what you think.

For those of us in the USA living together mulitgenerational is

something we have gotten away from in the past couple generations.

In the past 3 years we have experienced two of our children and their

families living with us. Not at the same time but I can

say that "life can be very good" going through

difficult times when you have families together.

Brownie Kisses

2012-01-06T20:12:00.001-05:00

Brownie Kisses - serves 12
1 package (1 pound 3.8 ounces) fudge brownie mix
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups vanilla milk chips
About 25 milk chocolate kisses with white chocolate stripes, unwrapped
1 1/2 tsp shortening
Heat oven to 350�. Grease bottom only of springform pan, 9x3 inches. Stir brownie mix (dry), water, oil, eggs and 1 cup of the vanilla milk chips in medium bowl about 50 strokes with spoon or until well blended. Spread in pan.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out clean or almost clean. Immediately place chocolate kisses around outside edge of brownie. Cool completely. Remove side of pan.
Place remaining 1/4 cup vanilla milk chips and the shortening in resealable plastic sandwich bag; seal. Microwave on High about 30 seconds or until chips are melted. Knead chips until smooth.
Cut small corner from bag. Drizzle melted chips over top of brownie. Cut into wedges.

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My Happy New Years Wish for you!

2012-01-03T12:20:00.000-05:00

Stay Young My Friend

;
HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Try everything twice.
On one woman's tombstone she said she wanted this epitaph:
"Tried everything twice. Loved it both times!"

2. Keep only cheerful friends.
The grouches pull you down.
(Keep this in mind if you are one of those grouches!)

3. Keep learning:
Learn more about the computer,

crafts, gardening, whatever...
Never let the brain get idle.'

An idle mind is the devil's workshop.'
And the devil's name is Alzheimer's!

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud.
Laugh until you gasp for breath.
And if you have a friend who makes you laugh,
spend lots and lots of time with HIM/HER.

6.. The tears happen:
Endure, grieve, and move on.
The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves.
LIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with who and what you love:
Whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever..
Your home is your refuge not your prison.

8. Cherish your health:
If it is good, preserve it.
If it is unstable, improve it.
If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips..
Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county,
to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every

opportunity.
I love you, my special friend.

11. Forgive now those who made you cry. You might not

get a second chance.

Do share this with someone.

Remember! Lost time can never be found.

Be kinder than necessary,
for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

Wine does not make you FAT ....

- it makes you LEAN ....
(Against tables, chairs, floors, walls and ugly people.)

Have a great day!

MY BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!

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Orlando Sunshine Resort

2012-01-03T10:58:00.000-05:00

I was blog walking this morning and came across a nice site in Orlando, Florida. If you are planning a visit to Orlando please check out this blog for local information. You will enjoy the tour.
http://orlandosunshineresort.blogspot.com/

Software News

2012-01-02T00:37:00.000-05:00

FileHippo.com Update News

Emsisoft Anti-Malware 6.0.0.52

Posted: 30 Dec 2011 08:43 PM PST

Emsisoft Anti-Malware monitors all active programs in real time for dangerous behavior (Behavior Blocking) and can detect new unknown Trojans, Worms, Viruses and other damaging programs (Zero-Day dangers) without daily updates. The signature-based security (Emsisoft and Ikarus double engine) ensures a very high recognition rate of known Malware suc...

MediaMonkey 4.0.2.1462

Posted: 30 Dec 2011 08:21 PM PST

MediaMonkey is a music manager and jukebox for serious music collectors and iPod users. It catalogs your CDs, OGG, WMA, MPC, FLAC, APE, WAV and MP3 audio files. It offers an intelligent tag editor which looks up missing Album Art and track information via Freedb and the web, and an automated file and directory renamer to organize your music library...

Recipe: Italian New Year's - Roasted Vegetables

2012-01-02T00:27:00.000-05:00

Italian New Year's - Roasted Vegetables

* vegetables

***marinade***

1/2 cup olive oil

6 cloves garlic; finely chopped

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary; chopped

1 tablespoon fresh thyme; chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

***vegetables***

3 large carrots; sliced crosswise

-- diagonally

2 medium onions; halved lengthwise

-- each half quartered

1 pint brussel sprouts; halved lengthwise

2 small sweet yellow peppers; halved lengthwise

-- each half quartered

2 medium yellow squash; halved lengthwise

-- in crosswise 1"

-- slices

2 medium zucchini; halved lengthwise

-- in crosswise 1"

-- slices

Several hours or the day before serving heat oven to 375F. Prepare the

marinade: In small bowl combine the oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, pepper

and salt. In medium-size bowl combine carrots and 1 1/2 tablespoons

marinade; spread out on rimmed baking sheet.

Repeat with onions and Brussels sprouts on another rimmed baking sheet.

Roast 25-35 minutes or until vegetables are fork tender.

Meanwhile, in same bowl, repeat with yellow and red peppers, then with

squash and zucchini; placing both peppers on one rimmed baking sheet and

both squash on another. Divide any remaining Marinade over vegetables.

Roast vegetables 10-15 minutes to until crisp tender.

Combine all vegetables in large roasting pan; cool to room temperature;

cover and refrigerate until 20-25 minutes before serving. To server, heat

oven to 350F. Uncover vegetables and roast until heated through, about 20

minutes. Transfer vegetables to serving bowl and serve.

Yield: 12 servings

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Recipe: New Year's Day Black-Eyed Pea Soup

2012-01-02T00:25:00.001-05:00

New Year's Day Black-Eyed Pea Soup

soups

2 cup black-eyed peas,dried

2 quart water,more if needed

1 ham bone with trimmings

3 onion,medium,chopped

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Wash the beans well in cold water several times, then place in a large,

heavy stew pot and cover with water. Allow to soak overnight. The next

morning (start early - beans like to take their time), pour off the soaking

water, and ham bone, 8 cups of water, onion and seasonings. Put on the back

of the stove and let simmer gently until beans are very tender, usually

about 4 hours. Add more water if needed. Remove and discard ham bone. If

the water looks a bit scant pour in 1-2 cups more. When beans are good and

tender remove about a cupful of the beans and mash well with some of the

bean liquid. (This can be done in a blender, of course.) Return mashed

beans to pot, taste for seasoning, and serve steaming hot over freshly

cooked white rice.

Yield: 8 servings

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Recipe: Good Luck Duck

2012-01-02T00:24:00.001-05:00

Good Luck Duck

main dish, waterfowl, wild duck

1 pound dried black-eyed peas

2 quarts water

1 smoked ham hocks - (to 2)

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoon butter

1 large onion; diced

2 celery stalks; diced

2 medium carrots; diced

1 jalapeño pepper; seeded, minced

3 cups diced (1/2") boned skinned duck breast

1 dash Worcestershire sauce

2 cups diced tomato; (canned or fresh)

Salt; to taste

Freshly-ground black pepper; to taste

Tabasco sauce; to taste

Combine peas and water in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil and then turn

off the heat and let stand for 1 hour.

Bring to a boil again, then reduce heat to simmer. Add ham hocks and salt

and cook until peas are tender. Remove hocks, pick meat off and return

meat to peas.

While peas are simmering, heat the butter in a skillet over medium-high

heat and sauté onion, celery, carrots and jalapeño pepper until soft. Add

duck and brown evenly. Season with Worcestershire sauce. Add to peas with

tomato and heat to warm. Season with salt, pepper and Tabasco. Good

luck!

This recipe yields 8 to 10 servings.

Comments: I don't know how it got started, but someone long ago decided

that it is important to eat black-eyed peas first thing on New Year's Day.

It's supposed to bring good luck. So here's a recipe that just might tip

the scales of fortune your way this year. For extra flavor, you may wish

to throw an oven-browned duck carcass or two into the pot while the

black-eyed peas are cooking. If you want to save some time, you can use

either fresh or canned black-eyed peas. Did you know that there are over

7,000 different varieties of black-eyed peas? Do you care?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 241 Calories; 4g Fat (13.7% calories

from fat); 14g Protein; 40g Carbohydrate; 8g Dietary Fiber; 8mg

Cholesterol; 599mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 1

Vegetable; 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

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Recipe: THE NEW YEAR'S BLACK-EYED PEAS WITH SAUSAGE RECIPE

2012-01-02T00:24:00.000-05:00

THE NEW YEAR'S BLACK-EYED PEAS WITH SAUSAGE RECIPE

3 (15 oz.) cans black-eyed peas
1 lb. sausage, sliced
2 tbsp. oil
1 lg. onion, chopped
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chilies
1 (14 oz.) can whole tomatoes
Salt and pepper, to taste

Place black-eyed peas in large stew pan to simmer. Fry sausage in oil until well browned. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of oil from skillet. Sauté onion in

remaining oil. add onions with oil and remaining ingredients to peas. Simmer for 30 minutes over a low heat. Serve with corn bread and tossed salad. Enjoy.

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Recipe: CHINESE NEW YEAR COOKIES

2012-01-02T00:22:00.001-05:00

CHINESE NEW YEAR COOKIES

1 (12 oz.) bag of chocolate chips
1 (12 oz.) bag of butterscotch chips
2 c. Chinese noodles
1 c. dry roasted peanuts

Melt chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in a double boiler. After chips have melted, remove from heat and add Chinese noodles and nuts to melted chips.

Mix and drop by teaspoons on wax paper. Let cookies set and harden. Store in an airtight container. Makes 4 to 5 dozen cookies. Enjoy.

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Recipe: New Year Dumpling Delight recipe

2012-01-02T00:21:00.000-05:00

----------------------------------------------

New Year Dumpling Delight recipe

Estimated Times
Preparation Time: 1 hr
Cooking Time: 10 mins
Servings: 40 dumplings

SWEET CHILI-GARLIC DIPPING SAUCE

1/4 cup MAGGI TASTE OF ASIA Cooking Soy Sauce
1/4 cup brewed green tea or rice vinegar
1 tablespoon MAGGI TASTE OF ASIA Sweet Chili Sauce
1 tablespoon MAGGI Seasoning Sauce
1 green onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons sesame oil

DUMPLINGS

1/2 pound lean ground pork or beef
2 tablespoons MAGGI Seasoning Sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon sesame oil
4 large Napa cabbage leaves
4 fresh shiitake or oyster mushrooms (stems removed and finely chopped)
1 cup finely chopped leeks (white parts only)
1 tablespoon peeled, finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon cooking rice wine or cooking sherry
1 tablespoon MAGGI TASTE OF ASIA Sweet Chili Sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground black or white pepper
40 round (gyoza) dumpling wrappers or square wonton wrappers
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1/2 cup water, divided

FOR SWEET CHILI-GARLIC DIPPING SAUCE:

COMBINE soy sauce, green tea, sweet chili sauce, seasoning sauce, green onion, garlic and oil in small bowl. Let sit for 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

FOR DUMPLINGS:

COMBINE pork, seasoning sauce, lemon juice and sesame oil in large bowl; set aside.

REMOVE stems from cabbage leaves; discard stems. Finely chop cabbage leaves and mix into pork mixture. Stir mushrooms, leeks, ginger, rice wine, sweet chili sauce and pepper into pork mixture.

PLACE one dumpling wrapper on work surface. Lightly brush edges with cold water. Spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons pork mixture into center of wrapper; fold wrapper in half and pinch edges to seal. Place on floured plate. Repeat with remaining wrappers and pork mixture. Cover wrappers and finished dumplings with moist paper towels to prevent drying.

COMBINE 1 tablespoon canola oil with 1/4 cup water in large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Place half of the dumplings closely together in one layer in skillet; cover. Cook, without disturbing, for 5 to 6 minutes or until dumplings puff up and are slightly browned on the bottom. Repeat with remaining canola oil, remaining water and dumplings. Serve immediately with Sweet Chili-Garlic Dipping Sauce.

To make ahead: Make the filling ahead of time. It will keep in the refrigerator for 2 days or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Enjoy.

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Live from NYC's Times Square! Web Cam

2011-12-31T22:59:00.000-05:00

For your viewing pleasure for tonights' count down.
Click the next line

New York, New York LIVE WEB CAM

Live from NYC's Times Square!

EarthCam presents an extensive collection of live webcams, featuring the most exciting views of New York City's famous Times Square. For the past century, Times Square has been a mecca for music and the arts and has truly become a must-see for millions of tourists every year. Our webcams are the perfect way to see all the action and bright lights of this iconic location!

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Happy New Year's

2011-12-31T08:26:00.000-05:00

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