Word on the Street....

Mexican-born actress, Salma Hayek, is expected to be knighted in France.  She is on the list to receive the the Légion d'Honneur as named by President Nicolas Sarkozy, People reports.  A formal ceremony will most likely take place at the Élysées Palace in the next two months and the formality includes a Presidential medal pinning. Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford and Robert De Niro are among the previous recipients.

Hayek is married to French businessman Francois-Henri Pinault, whose father Francois Pinault was recently promoted to Grand Officer. The Legion of Honor was founded by Napoleon in the early 19th century and is often awarded to military and civilians for their service to France, though the honor is not exclusive to the French.

On Sunday, January 1, 2012, OWN had its strongest ratings since the network premiered a year ago with 'Oprah's Next Chapter'.  The two-hour debut of the host's return to interviews brought in 1.1 million viewers during its premiere.  The interview with Steven Tyler in his home was a winner for Oprah, who has more interviews lined up in her return to television.

Oprah famously ended her 25-year talk show in May 2011. The final episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show hit a 17-year ratings high of 18 million viewers after a season averaging around 7.4 million viewers.

AllGood Entertainment CEO Patrick Allocco and his son are currently being held at gunpoint in an Angola hotel until rapper Nas and another rapper returns the $315K each that they were paid to perform a New Year’s Day concert.

A rep for Allocco told TMZ that Nas and opening act Jemiah Jai were paid $315k to perform 2 shows but Nas failed to make his flight but he didn’t reschedule the concert. The Angolan promoter who put up the money for Nas’ concert fee was holding the other promoter and his son at gunpoint. The promoter and his son were handed over to Angolan police and interrogated for 7 hours until the U.S. embassy stepped in to secure their release.

According to TMZ, the men are being held (likely at gunpoint) “in residence” at a local hotel while the two sides try to resolve the money situation.

Maya Angelou Interview

Astronomers Find Largest and Most Distant Reservoir of Water

Two teams of astronomers have discovered the largest and farthest reservoir of water ever detected in the universe. The water, equivalent to 140 trillion times all the water in the world's ocean, surrounds a huge, feeding black hole, called a quasar, more than 12 billion light-years away.

"The environment around this quasar is very unique in that it's producing this huge mass of water," said Matt Bradford, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "It's another demonstration that water is pervasive throughout the universe, even at the very earliest times." Bradford leads one of the teams that made the discovery.

A quasar is powered by an enormous black hole that steadily consumes a surrounding disk of gas and dust. As it eats, the quasar spews out huge amounts of energy. Both groups of astronomers studied a particular quasar called APM 08279+5255, which harbors a black hole 20 billion times more massive than the sun and produces as much energy as a thousand trillion suns. Astronomers expected water vapor to be present even in the early, distant universe, but had not detected it this far away before. There's water vapor in the Milky Way, although the total amount is 4,000 times less than in the quasar, because most of the Milky Way’s water is frozen in ice.

Water vapor is an important trace gas that reveals the nature of the quasar. In this particular quasar, the water vapor is distributed around the black hole in a gaseous region spanning hundreds of light-years in size (a light-year is about six trillion miles). Its presence indicates that the quasar is bathing the gas in X-rays and infrared radiation, and that the gas is unusually warm and dense by astronomical standards. Although the gas is at a chilly minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 degrees Celsius) and is 300 trillion times less dense than Earth's atmosphere, it's still five times hotter and 10 to 100 times denser than what's typical in galaxies like the Milky Way. Measurements of the water vapor and of other molecules, such as carbon monoxide, suggest there is enough gas to feed the black hole until it grows to about six times its size. Whether this will happen is not clear, the astronomers say, since some of the gas may end up condensing into stars or might be ejected from the quasar.

Source: NASA

Underrated Movie: Cover

This is a fantastic movie that received little-to-no fan fair.  It has a great cast and an intriguing story line.

Aunjanue Ellis (The Mentalist) is fantastic and Leon (oh sweet Leon) is oh so fine in this story of intrigue, suspense and betrayal. And there's Vivica Foxx too, seriously, do we need to say anymore?

Enjoy!!

I know Why The Caged Bird Sings

by Maya Angelou

Excerpt:

Stamps, Arkansas, was Chitlin' Switch, Georgia; Hang 'em High, Alabama; Don't let the Sun Set on You Here, Nigger, Mississippi; or any other name just as descriptive. People in Stamps used to say that the whites in our town were so prejudiced that a Negro couldn't buy vanilla ice cream. Except on July Fourth. Other days he had to be satisfied with chocolate.

A light shade had been pulled down between the Black community and all things white, but one could see through it enough to develop a fear-admiration-contempt for the white "things"-white folks' cars and white glistening houses and their children and their women. But above all, their wealth that allowed them to waste was the most enviable.

Although there was always generosity in the Negro neighborhood, it was indulged on pain of sacrifice. Whatever was given by Black people to other Blacks was most probably needed as desperately by the donor as by the receiver. A fact which made the giving or receiving a rich exchange.

Luxury Pet Items

The Cat Cabin



The Cat Cabin is from the house of HomeBasic. Each cat cabin is handmade of wood and Liana.

Inside the cat cabin, there is a water and dirt-repellent pillow to make the cat feel comfortable in his/her cabin. They are using a newly developed method of weaving the Liana to make all our designs very stable, durable, stylish, and delicate.

Manufacturing time for each cat cabin takes about 40 to 60 hours. Owing to the intelligent design, the cat cabin it fits very well in bright and open lofts, apartments, houses or conservatories. The warm color and the natural processed materials makes your cat feel “at home” and very comfortable.

The Cat Cabin is priced at 980 Euros.


Hepper Pods



Hepper is a pet products company that makes innovative, functional, and cool beds for dogs and cats.

Most of the beds serve as your pet’s own personal sanctuary - a perfect place for curling up to snooze, hide, or reign supreme.

The Pod Bed is sold for $155 and the Podium for $115 so $270 USD.



Elite Pet Haven C38Ob 48




This is the height of luxury you can gift to your furry friends.

The Elite Pet Havens are custom designed state-of-the-art health and luxury havens for your pet.

The havens are virtual interactive outdoor environments for your pet inside your own home. Options include temperature, scent and taste, touch controls and virtual play with the real pet. You can also get your pet’s exercise program monitored by experts remotely.

A custom designed Elite Pet Haven could cost between $50,000 and $200,0000.

Poetry

Hanging Fire
by Audre Lorde

I am fourteen
and my skin has betrayed me
the boy I cannot live without
still sucks his thumb
in secret
how come my knees are
always so ashy
what if I die
before the morning comes
and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed.

I have to learn how to dance
in time for the next party
my room is too small for me
suppose I die before graduation
they will sing sad melodies
but finally
tell the truth about me
There is nothing I want to do
and too much
that has to be done
and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed.

Nobody even stops to think
about my side of it
I should have been on Math Team
my marks were better than his
why do I have to be
the one
wearing braces
I have nothing to wear tomorrow
will I live long enough
to grow up
and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed.

Poetry

Before you knew you owned it
by Alice Walker


Expect nothing. Live frugally
On surprise.
become a stranger
To need of pity
Or, if compassion be freely
Given out
Take only enough
Stop short of urge to plead
Then purge away the need.

Wish for nothing larger
Than your own small heart
Or greater than a star;
Tame wild disappointment
With caress unmoved and cold
Make of it a parka
For your soul.

Discover the reason why
So tiny human midget
Exists at all
So scared unwise
But expect nothing. Live frugally
On surprise.

Scale of the Universe

This is an extraordinary feature link, it is the Universal Scale featuring the worlds' smallest to the largest microbes and planets in our galaxy...that can and cannot be seen with the naked eye.

http://www.primaxstudio.com/stuff/scale_of_universe/

Luxury Beds

Who doesn't enjoy a good night's rest? Especially after a long, hard day of work (or play) there's nothing better than getting cozy in a comfortable bed. So, with that in mind, how much would you be willing to spend to get that cozy, comfortable rest? Lets take a look at some of the world's most luxurious beds...and mattress.


1. Starry Night Sleep Technology Bed
















The Starry Night Sleep Technology Bed from Leggett & Platt: $50,000.
Comes with anti-snore technology to reduce snoring in mild to moderate cases by elevating your upper body a few degrees. Its dual programmable temperature control from 68 to 117 degrees Fahrenheit adjusts the temperature to your liking. The Sleep Diagnostic Center monitors body movement and breathing pattern throughout the night. If you are the one who can’t live without music, the bed comes with an iPod docking station and 2500-watt surround sound system with four 8-inch subwoofers. Other salient specs include Internet connectivity, wireless RF remote that connects to a 1.5TB media server with four gigs of RAM, and a 1080p projector.


2. Indestructible Bed













The Quantum Sleeper Unit is a high-level security system designed for maximum protection in various hostile environments: costs an estimated $135,000.
The high-tech bed folds up into a fire-resistant coffin-like box to keep you safe from any uneventful event. The bed is fitted with a high-level security system that protects you from destructive forces of nature, bio-chemical terrorist attack and kidnappers. Besides, the bed is not just about protection, it is also the ultimate in entertainment and communications as it also comes with a built-in CD player, DVD Screen with PC hookup, microwave and refrigerator along with cellular phones and radios to keep you connected to the outside world! The bed is designed to enable the person(s) inside the unit to see out and prevent those outside from seeing in. The bed (though not in production) .


3. Hollandia Platinum-Luxe Elite sleep system















This Elite bed comes equipped with a retractable 32-inch Sony Bravia HDTV integrated into the bed’s footboard, a Sony Bravia theater system that includes a five DVD/CD changer, a five speaker surround sound system, a subwoofer beneath the bed for a complete hi-end experience, and an iPod docking station; the bed gently adjusts to a comfortable reclining position and the integrated massage system that features four powerful motors with a micro-computer that provides 12 individual massage programs, and a 30-minute automatic shutdown. It also has a 13-inch retractable back-sliding system and Hollandia’s telescopic head support. All the features are beautifully engineered into the bed, there are no unsightly wires visible in the room. The base is covered in Italian-designed fabric, which is a new, 100 percent synthetic fiber that protects the frame from pets. The Elite is available in white or gray to complement any bedroom decor.


4. Gustarle TV Bed














The Gustarle TV-Bed comes complete with Samsung flatscreen LCD TV with built in DVD player. This impressive waterbed comes with the latest top of the range Samsung 26-inch LCD TV and the Sony high definition DVD player. Several wood finishes are available for the bed, headboard and footboard, together with a superb choice of real leather fabrics for the inset panels on the headboard and each side of the footboard. This gorgeous TV Bed is also available with Visco Elastic memory foam mattress upon request. Available in various sizes, the 200cm model will set you back £6,950 (US $13,577).



5. Swarovski-studded Beautyrest Black bed













This Simmons Beautyrest Black bed is handmade and comes adorned with Swarovski crystals on the sides of the mattress and base and flaunts luxury fabrics. Each bed takes 300 hours to make. The king-size version sells for around $16,500. The Swarovski-studded luxury bed features triple woven springs, advanced memory foam, progressive latex with anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties and luxury alpaca fibers. The queen size sells for NZ $14,999, super king costs NZ $17,499 and the Californian model retails for NZ $18,499. The Beautyrest Black bed can be customized with different sizes and three different bases, including the black leather option.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
2cups icing sugar
1package cream cheese
1tsp vanilla
1tsp nutmeg

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, icing sugar and butter and beat until creamy. Add vanilla and nutmeg and mix well.

Tam’s Red Velvet Cake and/or Cupcakes

Ingredients:

2cups flour, sifted
3tsp cocoa
1cup white sugar
2 eggs
2tblsp brown sugar
1cup unsalted butter, softened
1¼ cup butter milk
2tsp red food color
½ tsp salt
1tsp baking soda
1tsp white vinegar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 deg.

Mix flour and cocoa and set aside. Mix buttermilk, food color and salt and set aside. Mix white sugar, brown sugar and butter until creamy. Beat in eggs to creamy batter one at a time until well blended. Alternately mix in flour and cocoa mixture and buttermilk mixture to the creamy batter. Beat until well blended and creamy. Mix vinegar and baking soda and fold in to cake batter.

This batter will make two cakes or 24 cupcakes. Pour batter for cake into two cake pans and bake for 35 minutes. When toothpick comes out clean, remove cake from oven and let stand for 10 minutes. Remove from cake pan and cool on wire rack before frosting.

For cupcakes, place cupcake cups into slots and fill up to ¾, leaving an edge. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool before frosing.

*side bar*
For a little bit of oomph you can add ½ cup of red wine or Bailey’s Irish cream

Enjoy!

Poetry

Touched by An Angel
by Maya Angelou


We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.


Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.


We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

...just a sec

Three of the 'craziest' road signs ever!

#1: Travel at your own risk...

#2: Oh snap!

#3: I was dumbfounded when I first saw this sign, just couldn't believe it was for real! These sings can be found on the California hwy by the Mexican border *blank stare*

Historic First: A Spacecraft Orbits Mercury

NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft successfully achieved orbit around Mercury at approximately 9p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 17, 2011. This marks the first time a spacecraft has accomplished this engineering and scientific milestone at our solar system's innermost planet.

MESSENGER's main thruster fired for approximately 15 minutes at 8:45 p.m., slowing the spacecraft by 1,929 miles per hour and easing it into the planned orbit about Mercury. The rendezvous took place about 96 million miles from Earth.

NASA engineers received telemetry data confirming orbit insertion. NASA's engineers Operations Center, received the anticipated radiometric signals confirming nominal burn shutdown and successful insertion of the MESSENGER probe into orbit around the planet Mercury where it started transmitting data. Upon review of the data, the engineering and operations teams confirmed the burn executed nominally with all subsystems reporting a clean burn and no logged errors.

The journey took Messenger six and half years to travel 4.9 billions miles to the planet Mercury. The mission's primary science phase began on April 4, 2011.

Deep, Deeep Sea Diving

Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group of companies, has revealed his plans to explore the deepest spots in each of the five oceans.

Sir Branson, along with American sailor and explorer Chris Welsh and submarine designer Graham Hawkes, has launched the Virgin Oceanic, a project to explore the last frontiers of our own Blue Planet: the very bottom of our seas. They intend to hit the deepest depths using the Virgin Oceanic’s flying submarines. For the dives, Virgin oceanic will use the DeepFlight Challenger submersible built by Hawkes Ocean Technologies of Point Richmond, Calif.

The Virgin Oceanic project proposes journey to the five deepest parts of each of Earth’s five oceans in 2011 and 2012. The first dive is planned to reach the deepest place on the planet i.e. the bottom of the Mariana Trench, which is roughly 11 kilometers straight down. The subs will hit the Mariana Trench (Pacific), Puerto Rico Trench (Atlantic), Diamantina Trench (Indian), South Sandwich Trench (Southern), and Molloy Deep (Arctic). Interestingly, the second dive, planned to hit the bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench (the deepest in the Atlantic), will be piloted by Sir Richard Branson himself.

They have even partnered with Google to assist with the charting and mapping of the sea floor during the missions.

On the launch of Virgin Oceanic, Sir Richard Branson said: "What if I were to tell you about a planet, inhabited by ‘intelligent’ beings that had, in the 21st Century, physically explored 0% of its deepest points and mapped only 3% of its oceans by unmanned craft, when 70% of that planet’s surface was made up of water. Then I tried to convince you that only 10% of the life forms inhabiting that unknown world, are known to those on the surface - you’d think I’d fallen asleep watching the latest sci-fi blockbuster! Then you discover that planet is Earth".

Virgin Oceanic Flying Sub Designed by Graham Hawkes, the flying submersible resembles a dolphin, and is made from 8,000 pounds of carbon fiber and titanium. It boasts an operating depth of 37,000 feet (7 miles) and is capable to operate independently for 24 hours. The Virgin Oceanic Flying Sub has been designed to survive enormous pressures, 1500 times than that of an airplane. The sub can fly up to 10km over the ocean floor, travel at a maximum of three knots and can dive at 350 feet per minute. This sub also has a mothership, which is a 125′ racing catamaran.

Sir Richard Branson says: "Virgin Oceanic will expand the reach of human exploration on our planet. By promoting and utilizing new technology, Virgin Oceanic will aid human kind’s ability to explore our Oceans, assist science in understanding our eco system and raise awareness of the challenges facing our Oceans".

BBC Earth has announced to work with Richard Branson’s Virgin Oceanic Five Dives expedition to produce a theatrical film and TV series.

Poetry

Eros

by Ralph Waldo Emerson

The sense of the world is short,

Long and various the report,

To love and be beloved;

Men and gods have not outlearned it,

And how oft soe'er they've turned it,

'Tis not to be improved.

Some of the World's Most Expensive Foods

Hot Dog: A New York restaurant, Serendipity 3, which is the city’s first coffee house boutique in Manhattan has now added the world’s most expensive ‘haute’ dog on their menu.

This 30 cm foot long hot dog is made of wholesome beef, grilled in white truffle oil. A pretzel bun that is used in it is imported from Germany and toasted with white truffle butter. With a delicious topping of medallions of duck foie gras with black truffles it is served with mouth-watering condiments of black truffle Dijon mustard, caramelized Vidalia onions and heirloom tomato ketchup.

Sushi #1: 12-yr-old Italian balsamic vinegar, Japanese rice, 70-yr-old virgin water, Muscovado sugar, Norwegian pink salmon, cucumber, mango, foie gras, sea cucumber (smoked then pickled and steamed ’til tender sticky), genuine crabmeat, wild saffron, mayonnaise with butter and garnished with 12 local Palawan pearls and 4 .20ct African diamonds of VVS clarity. This most expensive sushi is available for sale for a price of $4,300. The prices for this new and expensive sushi rolls are subject to change without prior notice, depending on stone clarity and ingredients used, and even takes into account the customer’s budget.

Sushi #2: Next on the list is world’s most expensive sushi made by Filipino chef Angelito Araneta Jr.

What makes this plate of sushi consisting of five pieces the most expensive is not the fish, but the garnishing in gold leaves and diamonds. The sushi is garnished with .20-carat African diamonds and wrapped with 24-karat gold leaves and is available in a restaurant in Manila for $2,750.

FleurBurger 5000. This one is available at Fleur de Lys, Chef Hubert Keller’s restaurant in Mandalay Bay.

This burger that’s stuffed with Kobe-beef burger topped with foie gras, black truffles, and Keller’s secret sauce, that go inside a brioche bun. Now, what makes it so pricey is the ingredients together with the presentation. It comes with a bottle of 1990 Chateau Petrus served in imported Italian Ichendorf Brunello stemware, which is again a something enchanting. They deliver as well…they ship the stemware and the certificate of authenticity right at your doorstep

Thoughts

Ask people, "What is your passion?" and they often freeze. They feel as if they have to give an amazing answer, like "feeding the orphans of the world" or "writing a novel that changes the landscape of literature." Or they feel as if "I don't know" isn't an option.

You might be one of those passionate people who have hearts aflame, pumping with desire. But you might have the kind of heart that's quieter, softer. It's harder for people to hear these whispers—I know, that sounds like a country and western song—but the way you tune your ear to hear them is to simply watch what you do. Some people don't take whispers seriously, thinking they're somehow not legitimate, because they're spoken with a softer voice.

I actually learned this myself. I went to law school and then worked in government and on Capitol Hill. I was an economic policy guy, but for 10 or 15 years, I was writing articles on the side. If someone had asked me, "What's your passion?" I never would have said, "Oh, writing about business and technology." I would have seized up and stammered. Now if someone had asked, "What do you think about when you're spacing out at work? What do you do on Friday afternoons?" The answer was clear. As a result, it's what I do now.

So, what do you do when no one's watching? What do you read in your spare time? I've noticed that if people are interested in something, they'll steer the conversation to that topic. So, where do you seem to inevitably take your conversations? Too often the question, What is your passion? leads to an answer you've come up with for other people, whereas the other questions I've mentioned will lead to an answer for yourself. Some people don't take whispers seriously, thinking they're somehow not legitimate, because they're spoken with a softer voice. I think you have to remind yourself that this is what your heart is telling you. It may not be screaming at you, but it might be giving you something more valuable.

By Daniel Pink

—As told to Oprah.com's Jancee Dunn

Source: Oprah.com

ASTRO Gaming has announced limited edition pre-orders for “The Gold Edition,” a line of gaming gizmos that have been created using solid 22K gold. The products in the new lineup include the A40 headset, Xbox 360 Controller, MixAmp 5.8 Rx wireless receiver and the Urban Lanyard, all done in solid gold. The Gold Edition A40 headset comes with gold cables and connectors. The modified Gold Edition Xbox 360 controller is accompanied with diamond-tipped buttons and gold wiring.

The ASTRO Gaming is selling The Gold Edition for $1,000, and you need to send them your email address to be notified of its availability.

Source: bornrich