Poetry

Perhaps Not To Be...
by Pablo Neruda












Perhaps not to be is to be without your being,
without your going,
that cuts noon light like a blue flower,
without your passing later through fog and stones,
without the torch you lift in your hand
that others may not see as golden,
that perhaps no one believed blossomed
the glowing origin of the rose,
without, in the end, your being, your coming
suddenly, inspiringly, to know my life,
blaze of the rose-tree, wheat of the breeze:
and it follows that I am, because you are:
it follows from ‘you are’, that I am, and we:
and, because of love,
you will, I will, We will, come to be.

Oh My....

Jennifer Lopez, aka JLo, is filming a new action movie (Parker) with scenes that require a stunt double, and her stunt double is a man

I'm not judging, a job is a job in this recession. get it girl, uhm guy!

Health Views - Sodas

Every day we are all trying to live healthy lives.  One of the major issues in doing so is eating healthily.  Ever so often though, we decide to 'give ourselves a break' and eat or drink something that is not the best choice for our bodies.  Consuming sodas is a very unhealthy thing.  I must admit that I fall prey to the seduction of popcorn and soda when I go to the movies, or a slice of pizza and a pop for $5.99 from a favorite restaurant.

Since we do sometimes 'fall of the wagon', let's at least know what the scrapes and bruises are that we get when we do fall; here's a look at what happens when we drink sodas 

 * In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid (rust remover!) cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.

*20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar in its way into fat.

* 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.

* 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain (the same effects as heroin *blank stare*)

* 60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.

*still at 60 minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you will evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.

*still at 60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you will start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, peed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used, for example, the ability to hydrate your system.

Scary, right? All we need is the information and then we can begin to make the right choices for ourselves and the people we love :)

Birds and Fish dying mysteriously...

Several months ago, it was reported that thousands of birds and fish died mysteriously in Arkansas, here's a follow up...

A shocking report prepared for Prime Minister Putin by the Foreign Military Intelligence Directorate (GRU) states that one of the United States top experts in biological and chemical weapons, John Wheeler,  was brutally murdered after he threatened to expose a US Military test of poison gas that killed hundreds of thousands of birds and fish in Arkansas.

Wheeler was allegedly murdered after his report disclosed that the transport of Iraqi Phosgene poisonous gas aboard a US Air Force KC-767 tanker aircraft, from Little Rock Air Force Base enroute to Afghanistan, had shortly after takeoff had a ‘critical malfunction’ of its aerial spraying computer direct command and control system over central Arkansas, causing the deaths of thousands of red-wing blackbirds.

According to US reports an estimated 4,000 of these birds were killed outright and were quickly removed by US Environmental Services workers wearing hazmat suits and gas masks. Another US report states that cause of death to these thousands of birds was “trauma in the breast tissue, with blood clots in the body cavity and a lot of internal bleeding” which this GRU report states is consistent with Phosgene exposure. The GRU report also states that it was the second “accidental” release of Phosgene poisonous gas in as many days, as the day before, this same US Air Force KC-767 tanker aircraft also had a “critical malfunction” causing a release over the Arkansas River that killed over 100,000 fish.

Upon Wheeler discovering what was happening with Iraq’s Phosgene poisonous gas stockpiles, this report continues, he traveled from his home in Delaware to Washington D.C. where he openly confronted and threatened to expose the Pentagon and White House Officials responsible. A few weeks later, Wheeler was found dead in a Delaware landfill.

At Home Facials

For a quick and easy facial at home, this is a recipe that I use all the time.  It is safe and effective and the ingredients are already at your fingertips!

1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp lemon juice.

Place the brown sugar in a small bowl, add the lemon juice on top and stir slightly.  Use your pointer and middle fingers to scoop the mixture and rub it on your face, avoiding your eyes.  You will be able to feel the sugar clearing your pores and the lemon juice acts as an astringent will clean and purify as you work your way through. Leave on for about 5-10 minutes then wash face (nothing wrong with working your neck into it :).  Pat dry with clean towel or paper towel, moisturize as desired.

Enjoy!

Man has Heart Attack at the Heart Attack Grill

The Heart Attack Grill is an American hamburger restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada. It serves high-calorie menu items with provocative names. The establishment is a hospital theme restaurant: waitresses are called "nurses" who take orders or "prescriptions" from the customers who are referred to as "patients". A tag is wrapped on the patient's wrist showing which foods they ordered and a "doctor" examines the "patients" with a stethoscope.

The menu includes "Single", "Double", "Triple", and "Quadruple Bypass" hamburgers, ranging from 8 to 32 ounces of beef (up to about 8,000 calories), all-you-can-eat "Flatliner Fries", cooked in pure lard. They also serve beer, tequila, and soft drinks such as "Jolt" and Mexican-bottled Coca-Cola made with real sugar.

Customers who weigh over 350lbs eat for free - if they weigh in with a doctor or nurse before each burger - and they are not allowed to share their free meal. Beverages and to-go orders are excluded.

So, today, February 15, 2012, a guy was at the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas and was eating a Triple Bypass Burger that has 6,000 calories, and at some point while eating it, the guy in his 40's had a heart attack and an ambulance had to be called and photographers just happened to be there to catch the scene of the guy on a gurney.

Wanna know what's ironic? The owner of the heart attack grill used to be a nutritionist and also owned a Jenny Craig franchise

*blank stare*

Happy birthday, Robert Nesta Marley

Bob Marley - 1979 - 04 - Running Away - Crazy Baldhead

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.