Toes ...eh, tomatoes

Our family was once in a silly mood and we were joking about how much we loved eating toes. We spent a while trying to think of all the different kinds of toes we liked to eat.

Dorry toes

Burry toes

Tomi toes

...I think we came up with more, but this post is about the last one; tomatoes.

Right now I can eat tomatoes.
I love tomatoes.
But I do NOT like the taste of tomatoes most of the time. Why? Because normally they have no taste whatsoever! I can not stand eating tomatoes unless they are fresh and cannot understand how others can.

Luckily now farmers markets are bursting with some great locally grown produce. Go give yourself a treat and buy some tomatoes.

mmmmmm good!

Paddling with the sharks

The next time you go to the beach and keep an eye out for a jellyfish or two while you're boogie-boarding or body surfing near the shore, think of the adventure of Justin DeBree.

Justin got on his paddleboard and paddled 430 miles up the coast of the Atlantic Ocean to help raise awareness about skin cancer. Click the link above to read an article about it.

'..the coolest thing was definitely the tiger shark'

Ah yes. As an 18 foot tiger shark was gnawing through the 4 foot shell of a turtle only about 30 feet away. Way cool Justin. lol You are much calmer around sharks than I would've been! I would have been laying out some brown chum in the water I think. lol

Good job Justin!! Can't wait to hear about your next trip!!

Truckers Slow Down To Protest Fuel Prices

Truck Drivers Block Freeway Traffic Across the U.S. to Protest Soaring Fuel Prices | AlterNet

Nice article about how truckers banded together to show their anger with regards to rising prices of fuel by slowing down to 20 mph on the interstates.

In this article it mentions that they (the truckers who organized the protests) want a reduction in the price of diesel fuel, an investigation into oil companies, and the release of government fuel reserves.

Yes an investigation, I feel, is in order. I disagree with the request of releasing the reserves though.

Read more yourself...follow the link.

Have I really been away from blogging this long?

I guess I've been distracted. Hard to believe I've let this website sit inactive for so long. I hope to make more frequent posts again soon. Only thing I've done here today, apart from this post of course, is to add a link to Fallen Sword.

I like the summer.

Checklist For The Open Road

Last night I was watching an interesting show on The History Channel. The show discussed various oracles and prophecies of the past. They also talked about the end of the world and how many different cultures shared a similar date.

Mark your calendar.
Winter solstice (December 21st-ish) 2012.

The Mayan calendar ends on this date and experts interpret this as being the end of the world. According to the Mayans the world has gone through this four times before and we will becoming the Fifth world at this time. At this time apparently the sun and the earth will line up perfectly with the center of our galaxy, where apparently a black hole resides, and perhaps we will be crossing some meridian or galactic midline.

The thoughts are that this could/will generate a change in our planet, possibly tilting our poles and causing global devastation.

But we already knew this was probably going to happen one day, didn't we? Yes it's something that all of us have read about in books. No I'm not talking about any religious book of revelations or prophecy...I'm talking about scientfic books, even tourist brochures. Yes this land was once under water. You've heard it. Many if not all of the big deserts of the world were once under water. Landmasses shift. The Earth washes itself off and begins again.

This show also pointed out that other cultures, like the Hopi, as well as some sages of yore (yes I just said "sages of yore". don't pick on me. just go with it) also predicted the same date as being one when the world will end.

Will it? Who knows. If it does I doubt I'll have to worry about my mortgage anymore. Though I do hope I get my sweater before then. (Sorry, inside joke)

This is not new. Back years ago I recall reading a book called We Are The Earthquake Generation, where it was predicted that massive earthquakes would rock our world and change the landscape of the world. Didn't happen. I'm still expecting it though. Any day now. Booom! But will that happen before the poles shift and the winds and waves pick up considerably.

And I haven't EVEN started to worry about that big asteroid that's heading towards us!

Sort of makes Canine Halitosis or your cats urinary tract health not seem like that big of a problem doesn't it?

But what the hell is this post about? You said something about a Checklist for the open road?

ah....
the truly entertaining part of last night was watching the commercials. Yes. It seems that demographics plays a large part in the commercials aired during this show because they all seemed to care about my penis.

I do believe penis is the word of the day.

Every commercial was for a Peter Pickerupper drug, with few exceptions. One of those exceptions was for a product I'm about to talk about.

The weather is fine. It's a nice day to get on you motorcycle and go out on a road trip with the guys.

Checklist before you mount your cruiser and take to the road.

sunglasses ...check
leather chaps ...check
bandanna or helmet ...check
chained wallet ...check
heavy boots ...check
kevlar-enforced leather riding jacket ...check
panty shields ...ch WHAT?!!!

Yes the commercial was an add for male panty shields.
They did not call them that. I am. That's what they were.
It featured a lot of older men dressed up in typical Bad Biker Attire, riding motorcyles and going off to do stuff together (like visit their grandchildren... I kid you not)

They called it a man cup, or some such thing.

Can you imagine the look on the face of the advertising guy when he was handed the job of coming up with an ad for a product for male incontinence and was asked to put a 'manly spin' on this panty shield product?

"Jim, If you can swing this one, there's a good chance we'll move you upstairs!"

Jim, I hope you got a promotion out of this one. This is a classic commercial. It's on par with the famous Quick Cook Grill. [Remember the Quick Cook Grill, it burned newspaper and 'gave you that wood smell since newspapers are made out of wood!' lol]

I'm eagerly awaiting the commercial showing...>edited< My stupid tasteless joke that wasn't funny was removed. Apologies to all.

Have a nice day. :-)

Dissappearing Bees

Honeybees in North America have not been having it very good since probably sometime in the 1980s. The bee population has since that time been affected by several negative factors to the point that many if not most of the wild honeybees have dissappeared from the US. The biggest threats up until recently were the intrusion of the Africanized bees and a couple of species of mites. Now there's something new.

Since last fall honeybees have been dissappearing. No, they're not being found dead, they're just not being found! Scientists are baffled and are hard at work trying to figure out exactly what is happening. Hives are being found emptied of bees or rather practically emptied of bees. Often it is just the queen and a few babies that are left in the hive, the tens of thousands of others have just apparently dissappeared. This is happening in many states, just over half of our nation, and the fear of it spreading is a serious concern.

This dissappearance has a name now. It is being called the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Hives that have been emptied show no sign of battle or illness that would explain the missing bees. There are no dead bees in the area. Often times the remaining bees do show signs of illness, but these are such that they are being considered perhaps normal under the circumstances since they are stress-induced illnesses, and I would imagine any remaining "baby bees" and the queen would be more than a bit stressed if every other bee left. Don't ya think?

Those researching this problem are trying to look at everything that they can in order to stop this problem as soon as possible. Factors such as global warming, genetically engineered crops, pesticides, herbicides, cell phone propagation, unknown pathogens, Martian bee vacuum are all being considered. Well... not the Martian bee vacuum, I added that in myself.

The big worry is really for the bees themselves. Dollars lost to agricultural interests could be severe because bees are vitally important for many of the crops that we (and our livestock) eat. Besides our own crops I would imagine that this problem with the bees going away could have a big impact on wildlife as well (in other words species in the wild...the food chain, not just some links of that chain we buy in the grocery store) and may endanger some other species if the cause is not found and the problem remedied soon.

Here's a map of the states that have reported CCD.

Here are a couple of news articles for you to read on the subject if you'd like. One from Alabama and one from Indiana.

More data can also be obtained from Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC) and the American Honey Producers Association (AHPA)

Sony PSP price cut

Sony is reducing the cost of its handheld, the PSP, to $169.99. This is a reduction of $30. Good news for anybody who's been toying with the idea of getting one.

England - Surveillance Society

This news article looks like it was ripped-off from some cheap science fiction movie from the 70s. [The Monitors comes to mind, but I'm sure there are others]. Apparently surveillance cameras are being installed in public places in England now that will speak to people when they commit little antisocial behaviors. Yes a voice will boom out and ask you to not litter, not jay-walk, etc. Do the people of the UK really want a society like this?

I pick up litter when I see it usually. I figure if I do, someone else will too. Eventually the number of literbugs will drop. Of course I think these cameras will monitor more than litter rudeness. A very Big Brother oddness that I certainly hope never comes across the pond to us.

Click on this link to read more.

'Talking' CCTV Scolds Offenders

Strange Online Game

Stumbled across a strange online game this morning. It looks interesting. You survive in the game by getting others to join the game. Be a pal and try it out so I won't be in last place. lol

click here!

Gotta Love Vermont

Nice little article over at Alternet on Vermont's spirit of independence and sense of democracy.

Why I haven't moved there yet is beyond me.

Vermont did not join the Union to become part of an empire.

Some of us therefore seek permission to leave.