Hot Shazaam!

Is it true that when you eat celery, you burn more calories than you actually consume?

It may seem like wishful thinking to believe that such a "negative calorie" food exists, but in the case of celery, it appears to be true. According to several sources we found with a search on "celery burn calories," an 8-inch stalk of celery contains approximately 6 calories. But the mere act of digesting said stalk burns more than 6 calories, resulting in a negative caloric intake...

So, perhaps this means that if I eat like 10 lbs of celery a day and nothing else, I could actually starve myself to death? Anyone wanting to try that out?  

Yikes! Trans Fat Hell !

From a health newsletter I receive comes this lovely bit of information. Buyer beware!

Without naming any specific restaurants or brands, here are some
of the items tested and their TFA totals:

* One slice of double-cheese pizza - about half a gram of TFA
* Large order of French fries - 4 to 6 grams
* Chicken pot pie - 5 grams
* One sour cream glazed doughnut - 5 grams
* Five chicken nuggets - almost 4 grams
* Two spring rolls - 2 grams
* "Captain's" platter of fried shrimp, fish, clams, and scallops
- 22 grams

That last one is not a misprint: 22 grams of TFA!

According to at least one research report, a daily intake of
only one gram of TFA may increase the risk of heart disease by
as much as 20 percent. And a 2002 report from the National
Academy of Sciences concluded that, "the only safe intake of
trans-fat is zero."

Don't say I didn't warn you!  

Music Players - Which One?

Lots of Players, Little Harmony Interesting article in the NY Times on the bewildering choice offered consumers today. And this article doesn't even mention Flac type formats or Ogg Vorbis. Huh, you're asking?

I like the Ipod, but it won't play WMA files and for my ears, WMA sounds just fine when recorded at 64kbps and I have quite a few tunes already recorded in that format. But it will play Audible files which are audio books that I frequently listen to and in a level 4 format which is the superior format for those books. A big plus for the Ipod. But will it serve as a voice recorder? No. Will it rip directly from a source (such as a record player,tape deck, cd player,etc?) - No. Does it have an FM tuner? No. Other makers offer many of these options, but do they offer Audible? No, most do not, so they are all pointless for me. I WANT IT ALL! Aren't any of these manufacturer's listening to me??

Let me know if you've figured out the perfect solution! As the article points out, it ain't easy!  

Cold Mountain

Saw this movie over the past weekend. Had read the book by Charles Frazier when it first came out in '97(great book!), but had forgotten some of it. The movie brought back quite a bit, although the memory had grown foggy over the last 6 years. I'd give it 3.5 stars out of 4. The beginning battle scene at the battle of Petersburg near the end of the Civil War was awesome and hard to watch. I had remembered this particular scene from one of Jeff Shaara's books, The Last Full Measure . It made you realize how god awful war really is.

Some of the minor roles were excellently acted, almost overshadowing the major actors (Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, Renee Zellweger). The preacher whom Jude Law strings to a tree in the middle of town for trying to drown a young black girl, whom he has impregnated, is great in his role. He played a draq queen in a movie with DeNiro, but his name escapes me at the moment. It's hard to overshadow Kidman though, who is so visually stunning. (Almost hard to believe you would have found anyone so beautiful lurking around back then. LOL) Zellweger turns in quite a performance as the local peasant girl who helps Kidman on her farm while Jude Law is trekking homeward across the Appalachians (some gorgeous Appalachian scenes), although at times I think she goes a bit over the top. The book was outstanding and I think the movie is certainly worth seeing. Not for young kids though (some nudity) and battle scenes and a few others would be too rough. Rated R. Great on the big screen though (what isn't, huh?).

A quote from Amazon.com that recaps the book: "The hero of Charles Frazier's beautifully written and deeply-imagined first novel is Inman, a disillusioned Confederate soldier who has failed to die as expected after being seriously wounded in battle during the last days of the Civil War. Rather than waiting to be redeployed to the front, the soul-sick Inman deserts, and embarks on a dangerous and lonely odyssey through the devastated South, heading home to North Carolina, and seeking only to be reunited with his beloved, Ada, who has herself been struggling to maintain the family farm she inherited. Cold Mountain is an unforgettable addition to the literature of one of the most important and transformational periods in American history. "

Enjoy! 

Rover Lands on Mars!

NASA'S M2K4:Roaming the Red Planet Check out this very cool Flash site on the Rover mission to Mars. Watched this exciting moment on TV last night as it touched down and they had to wait about 10 minutes to finally hear the signals indicating that it was OK. You can imagine the tension in that control room.

This web site will tell you everything you want to know. Works of course quickly if you have a cable modem (broadband), but will work fine with dial-up modem, as long as you are patient. Highly recommended!

P.S. Unbeknownst to me (missed it in the news somehow), the Brits tried to land a craft on Mars on Christmas Day, but they have not yet heard back from it. For more news about that and attempts to find it, click here .

Update: I have to chuckle at a mention of the Beagle on Clive Soley's blog (I especially like the phrase "done a runner"!), "While I’m at it let’s give a quiet thought to the Beagle somewhere on Mars. That also was a great effort even if it has done a runner! A prize to the cartoonist as well who showed it following a Martian child back to his crater somewhere on Mars and saying to his mother “I don’t know where it came from - it just followed me home”!"

 

Desktop Sidebar - Nice Feature

Desktop Sidebar Home Page You might want to check this out - a floating sidebar that can autohide and will display all kinds of useful info for you. Been experimenting with it today and like what I see so far, although I'm seeing a memory footprint of 13-18mb. Still, if you have at least 512mb of memory, shouldn't be a big issue or if you have few other programs running. Unlike myself, who loves to cram a million programs on his computer.

In the comments section below, please post any new cool electronic gadgets you got for Xmas, so I will now know what to buy! Got that gadget thirst, which I didn't satisfy at Xmas!

Hope you all have a great 2004 and stick to those resolutions! (I don't even bother anymore! LOL )  

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hope everyone is out there having a great time today! After a trip home to visit my Dad, we are heading back to Virginia with our 2 cats. Another interesting adventure, I'm sure. It's been rather hectic on the home front, so I haven't had the opportunity to post - should be able to start that back up soon, although more in-laws are descending upon us when we arrive back in Virginia. Sure good to visit with everyone over the holidays though.

Update:
Made it to Lexington, KY where I am typing this. Everything closed on the trip down, except for Waffle House's and truck stops. Stopped at a Flying J truck stop and had an excellent buffet with very friendly folks. Wireless Internet Access at Flying J's for $1.95/hour which is really cheap - didn't try it out, but nice to know as there are many of those around. Our cats were the best on the trip down. Are now hiding under the bed in our motel room, which is the same thing they did on the trip up! Weird - must feel safe though. If you didn't get any Xmas greetings this year and need one, then visit this site. Thanks to my Arkie bud for that one. 

An Interesting Few Days

Decided it was time to go home to visit my father who is not doing so well lately (at 90, who is?). I'll probably be lucky to make it to 70! Of course about 30 minutes before I'm ready to leave home, the power goes out in the house and comes right back on. Unbenownst to me, it messes with one of my USB ports that my external backup Hard drive is connected to. It looks like the Hard Drive is toast, along with the USB 2.0 PCI card and mini-hub and maybe even the printer. After getting all those suppliers to ship me new parts (no questions asked either, which was surprising), I decided to unplug everything, reboot the machine and then plug everything back in. Of course, voila - everything goes back to working. Nothing like adding to post departure stress! (back on the phone cancelling all those orders)

For more fun, we decide to take the 2 cats along with us. Our one cat, Turbo, has made this trip before, but the little one Willow, who is high strung, has not. Turbo goes willingly into his cat carrier and proceeds to snooze for the next 5 hours without so much as a peep. Willow, shows her great pleasure with the whole experience, by deciding it is time to do a number #2 in her cat carrier, just 20 minutes from the house. Needless to say, that caused some excitement in the ol' car and a quick exit off the road. A few minutes of cat cleanup (good job, Janet!) and we are headed off again. 30 minutes later while paying for some food at Wendy's in the driveup lane, Willow decides that she isn't getting enough attention and does the ol' heave ho all over my camera bag sitting on the back floorboard. Another cleanup and fortunately, by now she has about exhausted herself. The next 4 hours she spends curled up in Janet's lap, heart pounding, but doing better.

As soon as we reach the motel for the night and lug the 2 varmints inside, they both make a run for under the bed and although Turbo comes out later for a look around, Willow remains firmly attached to her square of carpet under the bed and does not come out for anyone. In the morning, we have to move the bed and pry her off the carpet. Fortunately, once in the car she snoozes off for the remainder of the trip, which lasts another 5 hours.

Believe me, I was glad to end this trip!

Fascinating Insights from Saddam Interview

Bearing Questions, 4 New Iraqi Leaders Pay Hussein a Visit: "'The world is crazy,' said Mowaffak al-Rubaie, a Governing Council member in the room on Sunday after Mr. Hussein was captured near his hometown, Tikrit. 'I was in his torture chamber in 1979, and now he was sitting there, powerless in front of me without anybody stopping me from doing anything to him. Just imagine. We were arguing, and he was using very foul language.'"

Hardly seems contrite, does he? Quite an interesting short article - read it now (NY Times articles are free only for 7 days). And after you finish that one, you can check out William Safire's comments, one being "I think Saddam is still Saddam — a meretricious, malevolent megalomaniac. He knows he is going to die, either by death sentence or in jail at the hands of a rape victim's family. Why did he not use his pistol to shoot it out with his captors or to kill himself? Because he is looking forward to the mother of all genocide trials, rivaling Nuremberg's and topping those of Eichmann and Milosevic. There, in the global spotlight, he can pose as the great Arab hero saving Islam from the Bushes and the Jews."

Quote of the Day
Save the Environment -- Plant a Bush Back in Texas
 

A "Christmas Present" for the Iraqi People

Saddam Captured - Iraqi News Today Wow, what a shocker this morning. Much to the woe of his supporters in the Arab world, Saddam didn't die fighting. Maybe that will tell them something about the kind of person he really was. Interesting times surely lie ahead. Hopefully, they will let his trial spin out long enough so that all the evidence is heard against him. That would be important for the Arab world to hear , especially if it is an Iraqi run trial. One must not forget that for many in Arab countries, their news can be a rather lopsided version of actual events. This will be hard to hide. Strangely, in a way, I felt sorry for the sorry ol' goat - but then I am reminded of how many millions he slaughtered for no good reason and that feeling quickly vanishes. I also had the sinking feeling that this would just put another feather in the cap of ol' GW and no doubt hasten his reelection - a foreboding thought , if there ever was one. A long slog still lies ahead - hopefully enough international pressure and criticism will keep the U.S. somewhat in line and prevent its (GW's and gang) imperialistic tendencies. It would be nice to see Iraq emerge on its own - definitely, not a certaintity despite todays events.  

Beat the Flu with a simple home Remedy!

Alternatives to the Flu Vaccine 12/13/03: "Preventing the flu (and other illnesses) as described in greater detail below is obviously 'your best medicine.' But if you do get the flu, one of the most important and simple things you can do is to use hydrogen peroxide in your ears. Yes folks, simple hydrogen peroxide, about a half of a capful in each ear, several times a day, is more than likely to abort the flu reaction. I didn't believe it when I first saw it, but I have now seen many hundreds of cases that have been rapidly aborted with the use of hydrogen peroxide. You can read my original posting on peroxide for this purpose. It costs less than a penny, so you really don't have much to lose. Give it a try. I can guarantee you that it is less toxic and more effective than any flu vaccine on the planet."
Doc Mercola has come up with another strange one, but hey, if it works! Would be interested to hear from anyone who has ever tried this, so please enter your comments below. I'm not looking forward to getting through this flu season easily, so may be bubbling this stuff down my ears as well!
Quote of the Day
"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it."
Sir Winston Churchill 

A Bolder Approach to Helping the World

Optimism for the World Deepak Chopra looks around at the chaos in the world - wars, terrorism, economic disparities, and social injustice - and sees nothing but potential. Indeed, to him the current state of humanity is like that of a caterpillar, which toward the end of its life eats so voraciously it destroys all the greenery around and becomes bloated and disfigured. But then the destructive insect uses those nutrients to transform into a magnificent butterfly. Check out the latest grass roots organization!

Quote of the Day
The world belongs to the optimists; pessimists are only spectators.
Francois Guizot  

Another Bonehead Move

Bidding for Isolation Well, ol' GW has done it again. He is a master at pissing off the world, that's for sure. Even Canada, who has more soldiers in Afghanistan than even we do. Bet the next time I try to travel to Canada, they'll just tell me to take a hike. 

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TransFat - Something you should know about!

Transfats - They're Everywhere! Check out this Canadian site on TransFats. Lots of good info here.
A landmark study in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1997 found that among 90,000 nurses studied, those who consumed 1 gram of trans a day for a decade had a 20 per cent increased risk of cardiovascular disease. What worries some scientists is that some Canadians are eating high levels of trans on a daily basis -- according to one Health Canada study, levels between 8 and 39 grams a day.

Some early research has linked trans fats with type two diabetes and Alzheimer's. There are also studies showing trans fats pass through the placenta to the fetus ... Research suggests that mothers who have an high intake of trans, have a greater risk of delivering pre-term..and that their babies may be smaller. Researchers in Denmark suggest that if you were to stop eating all trans fat, it would take several months to a year for it to leave your blood and body fat 

Be cautious, this Xmas Season!

ResellerRatings.com - Compare product prices, read customer reviews of stores. If you're shopping on the Net this Xmas, and you're buying some new gadget/toy from some place you have not dealt with before, you might want to check here first for a rating and actual customer reviews of their service. Better safe than sorry.
Quote of the Day
"I never believed in Santa Claus because I knew no white dude would come into my neighborhood after dark."
Dick Gregory
Photo of the Day

Click to view larger image  

Another look at Walmart

Is Walmart a Good Thing?
"Wal-Mart is the greatest thing that ever happened to low-income Americans," said W. Michael Cox, chief economist of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. "They can stretch their dollars and afford things they otherwise couldn't." But will they have any dollars to spend, if Walmart causes their own companies to shut down? That's the critical issue. From what I've read, that does happen - companies have to rely on cheaper overseas companies to produce these goods, thus depriving those very Americans who need to spend at Walmart, of their jobs. Catch 22.

Photo of the Day

click for larger view

Quote of the day
"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh."
Voltaire 

Talk about a Wild and Crazy Day!

KRT Wire | 12/06/2003 | No. 1 Oklahoma demolished by No. 13 Kansas State Wait till you read this article - talk about a wild and crazy system - gives me a headache just reading it! There must be a better way. On a sad note - my IU Hoosiers blew a 12 point lead in the last 4 minutes of their basketball game to lose to #5 Missouri - hard to take. 

Can Google Grow Up?

Google in Trouble?
Google is one of the best things to happen to the Net. So will its IPO, expected this spring, be a must-buy? A look inside reveals a talented company facing trouble. A fascinating look inside Google - will you invest next Spring? Got any guts? :) Here's one spooky comment from this article - "Then there's Microsoft. The company has an army of brainiacs working on incorporating web search into MSN and its new operating system, code-named Longhorn, due out in 2006. It plans to be able to index every user's hard drive and use the information to provide better searches. "All I'll say is that search is vitally important to us," says Chris Payne, Microsoft's executive in charge of search." Huh? Index my Hard Drive? How's that for an invasion of privacy? Either this is a misprint or MS is losing it's mind.  

No More Ads at the Top!

Good News - No more ads at the top of these pages. (The Ebates Ad will disappear soon, as well). Blogger was kind enough to remove them for me, so you won't have to be pestered with ad clutter. I realize this was of great concern to my readership.