Fri, 01 May 2009 00:52:53 GMT

Help! I have a split personality!

A recent study conducted by Cornell University scrutinized 770 family cooks to discover that there are five distinct cooking personalities among home cooks:

1. "Giving" cooks (22%) are enthusiastic about cooking and specialize in comfort food, particularly home-baked goodies.
2. "Methodical" cooks (18%) rely heavily on recipes, so their cooking is strongly influenced by the cookbook they use.
3. "Competitive" cooks (13%) think less about health and more about making the most impressive dish possible.
4. "Healthy" cooks (20%) often serve fish and use fresh ingredients, but taste isn’t the primary goal.
5. "Innovative" cooks (19%) like to experiment with different ingredients, cooking methods and cuisines, which tends to lead to healthier cooking.

These profiles were developed to predict how the cooking style of each household’s primary home cook may affect the health of an entire family. The theory discussed in the article is that the primary home cook’s style influences around 70% of the foods we eat, not just when we eat meals at home but also children’s lunches, snacks eaten outside the home, and even what family members order at restaurants.

Can you identify yourself in any of these profiles? I can see myself as a ‘giving cook’ on some days but also as an ‘innovative cook’ on most days. Does this mean I have split culinary personality disorder? Posted by: danamccauley      Read more     Source

Fri, 01 May 2009 00:46:33 GMT

Ellen Sirot Hand Perfection Hand Cream

For 20 years, Ellen Sirot’s ageless hands have earned her worldwide acclaim as the “supermodel of hands.” Her hands have appeared in countless advertising campaigns, every major fashion and beauty magazine and worked with the world’s top photographers. Now thanks to the new hand care line she has created, Ellen Sirot HAND PERFECTION, any one of us can have amazing skin on our hands too!
From the first drop of Hand Perfection that I applied, my hands became noticeably softer and moisturized. The lotion is white and a medium weight - a cross between a cream and a lotion.
The lotion had the perfect amount of slip, felt lightweight on my hands and had a very faint scent, where I picked up some evening primrose oil fragrance. The cream is also very concentrated, so I literally only needed the pea sized amount that it suggests on the tube directions.

It provided a beautiful sheen to my hands (not greasy) and sank in within a minute or two. After using daily for several weeks, I noticed that the overall tone of my skin improved, some discolorations were lightening, my nails and cuticles had never looked better and they were always soft and smooth - even after washing!

Ellen Sirot certainly knows what she is doing. This is a fantastic product, and the Ellen Sirot Hand Perfection Night Cream, which I used in conjunction with this, just made my hands look amazing. The only improvement I could see with the day cream would be the addition of an 30+ SPF which would help in the maintaining of the skin brightening and anti-aging effects.
The purse size (about 4"in long) was a perfect size and also has a secure flip top dispenser. - RLB Posted by: Palacinka Beauty      Read more     Source

April 30, 2009, 5:44 PM CT

Search Engine Optimization Services

Lately I have come across this expression called 'Search engine optimization services'. Truly speaking I did not have much of an idea about it when I first heard it. However, my association with NuReach Global Internet Marketing Services has not only given a crystal clear idea of this term but also introduced me to its utility and effectiveness. Before sharing my experience with NuReach Global Internet Marketing Services, let me give you an idea about search engine optimization services. These services include internet marketing and web-site designing. Also it focuses on the optimization services of the search engines accurately. A firm that aims at providing perfect internet marketing services to increase the internet traffic and positions should help the site get better traffic result. This can be done by the use of cutting edge site marketing strategies.

This is where NuReach Global Internet Marketing Services comes into being. The company is dedicated to boost up your internet ranking and number of visits to the site. I have experienced this throughout my association with them. With a middle-level business with a moderate infrastructure, it was quite impossible for me think of worldwide exposure. Also I was under the impression that to give my business an international status and appeal I will require spending a lot of money. However, I am glad to admit that the search engine optimization services of NuReach Global have proved me wrong. Today, I have customers from around the globe. I get into a number of conversations and a large portion of them convert into sales. I do not need to advertise my services and products through various mediums. All is well taken care of by NuReach Global. They offer an amazing package of search engine optimization. This includes services like press release submissions, W3C validation,......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:58:08 GMT

Model-Making Klutz Admires 1-6th Scale Corvette Engine

Way, way back when Elvis first made an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show I was a radio announcer in North Bay Ontario. No disc jockeys in those days, folks.... we covered everything from funeral announcements to local hit parades. Already a sports car enthusiast, in my spare moments at the station I attempted to build a 1/43 model Ferrari from a kit. I've always been a klutz with my hands so the mini Ferrari had a short life.

Thus you can imagine how awe-struck I was when learning of a near-finished 1/6th scale Chevrolet 327 cu. in. V-8 that actually runs! It was built by Jim Moyer, whose hobby is building miniature engines. Based on a 1964 365 hp Corvette, measurements have been taken from an actual engine. The head and block began as billet aluminum, painstakingly machined on a Bridgeport-style mill. The 5-main crank has real babbit bearings, while the cam is a scale 30-30 Duntov.

Jim's Web site explains that dies were developed for stamping out the front cover, oil pan and rockers. The pistons and water pump housing are cast aluminum and the valve covers are going to be investment-cast. Since this engine is a runner, there is spark ignition, a pressurized oil system, and a cooling system just like its big brother. As of now, the engine has been completed to the point that it will run for brief periods. Jim says that "several things have yet to be finished including the water pump/radiator, valve covers and carburetor to make this a full-time running engine."

My thanks to one-time race buddy and former car mag associate Diana Carter for making me aware of this story. Forty-five years after working together and with no further contact, we both ended up on Canada's west coast Vancouver Island, Diana in Ladysmith BC and me in Sidney BC, where the weather is similar to Seattle but with less rain. I tried selling a film script but somehow "Sleepless in Sidney" didn't quite make the cut. Posted by: Philip Powell      Read more     Source

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:50:08 GMT

Alex Rivera and Leonor Varela

"Adventurous, ambitious and ingeniously futuristic, Sleep Dealer is a welcome surprise. It combines visually arresting science fiction done on a budget with a strong sense of social commentary in a way that few films attempt, let alone achieve," praised Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times. Visually arresting indeed, the debut feature from co-writer/director Alex Rivera may be the first sci-fi film set in a third-world locale: "Mexico. The near future. Memo Cruz has always dreamed of leaving his tiny village and heading north. But when he is ultimately forced to leave, Memo finds a future so bizarre-border walls, shantytowns, hi-tech factories, remote control drones and aqua-terrorists-that it looks a lot like today."

Sitting down before its U.S. theatrical release, Rivera, co-star Leonor Varela and I jacked into a conversation about what the film"s really about, the evils as well as the benefits of globalization, and how to find the balance between subtlety and ideological preaching in a sci-fi allegory.... all after Varela offered up an amazing impression of a horse. (It was actually in context, but thank goodness I didn"t have to transcribe that!)

To listen to the podcast, click here.

Sleep Dealer opens tomorrow in New York and Los Angeles. For more info, visit the official site. Posted by: ahillis      Read more     Source

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:30:10 GMT

Sunday Greetings

As you read this, I am probably in St. Louis, visiting with family (and eager for the opportunity to return home). A certain pack of nephews and a niece (what’s the collective word for these relations?) always visit Grandma and Grandpa over the Easter weekend, and unless I fly to various parts of the country, it’s my best chance to see them and hand out gold dollars. Plus its the first chance I’ll have to see my newest nephew, who is not yet six months old.

When I was looking for someone to do the repair work on the overflow spillway, I called the feed store in the town near Roundrock and asked for recommendations. The man who answered named a couple of names and gave me what was, for him, their phone numbers. He merely gave me the last four digits. They all share the same area code and exchange, so all I needed to know was the last four numbers. I like that small-town touch.

Mighty Queequeg has discovered birds. He sees them flying overhead and barks at them, thinking he has chased them from the sky!

Have you been to the latest Festival of the Trees over at yet? If you haven’t, why don’t you take the opportunity now?

We’re already looking toward next month when the Festival will be hosted by Peg at . She’s especially interested in links about trees in flower, which is happening a lot right now here in the northern hemisphere. You can send your links to Peg at amberapple (at) msn (dot) com or by using the . Her deadline for submissions is April 27.

has collected links to many carnivals that you might like. At least once a month they post those links and deadlines. (Did you know they now have more than 800 nature-oriented blogs as members?)

We’re always on the look out for new hosts for the , too. In fact, the June 1 slot is open right now (and it’s calling your name). If you’re interested, just let me or Dave know. We’ll give you all the help you need.

I’ve been getting lots of helpful input on my idea of stocking my lake. Thanks to all. From what I’ve learned, it think I’ll steer away from the hybrid bluegill. But I still need to research sources, so it may still be a while before I begin this adventure. The recent rains we’ve had have kept the lake nicely full. It’s as though cosmic forces want me to stock the lake!

What’s Pablo reading now? I’ve picked up a biography called Mockingbird by Charles Shields. It’s not really a biography since so much information is left out (Harper Lee did not cooperate), and even the author acknowledges this, calling it a “portrait.” I’m not too far into it, but it does have a superficial feel to it. Still, I will finish it and glean whatever I can from it.

Missouri calendar:

Easter

Copperheads leave winter dens this week.

Painted turtles bask in sun for warmth. Posted by: Roundrockjournal      Read more     Source

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:42:38 GMT

Charlize Theron calls gay marriage ban 'form of apartheid'

South Africa-born actress Charlize Theron
thinks US ban on gay marriage is another "form of apartheid". The Oscar-winning actress revealed that she was "bothered" that her adopted country failed to legalise same-sex unions.

Charlize said it was this "caveman" approach which reminded her of her native country"s past apartheid laws, which marked a distinctive line between whites and non-whites. "I don"t like living in an elitist world, it bothers me. I don"t want to be part of an elitist sexual preference," Contactmusic quoted her as saying.

"It bothers me, maybe it"s because I come from a country where I lived under apartheid but this is a form of apartheid and I don"t want to be a part of that. My ability to get married is a piece of me that I wish I could give to somebody who it would mean so much to. We should all have the chance. It"s just so caveman, I can"t believe we"re still talking about it," she added. Posted by: Melissa      Read more     Source

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:39:08 GMT

Sneezing In Slow Motion

A thousand-frame-per-second camera captures amazing footage of people spraying snot everywhere, set to opera music. From the Government of South-Australia. Posted by: Gerard      Read more     Source

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:37:57 GMT

Hand Signals At The Stork Club

The Stork Club was a famous Manhattan night club that was founded by Oklahoma native and ex-bootlegger Sherman Billingsley and operated continuously from 1929 - 1965. The NYC hot spot was a destination for celebrities, artists, writers and wealthy people in general.

When Billingsley was talking to his guests, there was always an assistant nearby watching his hand gestures. Here"s a series of images of Mr. Billingsley demonstrating his own brand of nightclub-code via these gestures.

(via Everlasting Blort) Posted by: Gerard      Read more     Source

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:35:23 GMT

High risk foods

I"m usually a pretty casual person. Not only is our office population small and unassuming, but we work with food and I never know at the beginning of the day how much time I might need to spend in the kitchen. As a result, I rarely dress up for a day at work (seriously: I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I"ve worn panty hose during daylight hours in the last 12 months). In fact, 3 work days out of 5, you"ll find me in flats and machine washable clothes at the office. The other two days, if I have on something nicer, it"s only because I have a meeting with someone outside of our little group.

Last Thursday, I attended a fancy gala at the Four Seasons hotel that honoured this year’s Ontario Hostelry Institute’s award winners (My husband and his partner got the Gold Award designating them Ontario’s Independent Restauranteurs of the year!) I wore a filmy white organza top and a shiny aubergine coloured satin skirt - both designer label and ridiculously expensive in comparison to most of the other clothes in my closet. As I dressed, I didn"t think about the perils that eating a meal in that kind of outfit might present. But, as I sat down for dinner, I was overcome with fear when I thought about the high risk foods I might be asked to eat in my finery. They had already tried to get me to eat a drippingly juicy shrimp at the cocktail reception - who knew what hijinks lay ahead at dinner? My imagination ran away with me and I began to make a list of foods that one should never serve when people might be wearing delicate fabrics:

ice cream cones

spaghetti in tomato sauce

anything "tall" that can tumble down into a sauce and splash you

gooey butter tarts

croissants (buttery crumbs can be dangerous, too)

whole cherry tomatoes

red wine

foods topped with melted, stringy cheese (like pizza)

any hors d"oeuvres served with a dip

ribs or chicken wings

pomegranate

ripe cherries

burgers

There are likely many more foods to add to the list but that"s as far as I got before I had to rejoin polite conversation. I made it through the meal but not without being super careful (I left a roasted-on-the-vine tomato on my plate because it was just too likely to burst if I put my fork into it!) Have you ever had a dining disaster that ruined a favourite piece of clothing?

Posted by: danamccauley      Read more     Source