Quote of the Week ~ Richard Dawkins

Evolutionary Biologist Richard Dawkins


"You won't find any opposition to the idea of evolution among sophisticated, educated theologians. It comes from an exceedingly retarded, primitive version of religion, which unfortunately is at present undergoing an epidemic in the United States."

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Congratulations Jessa!

My little sister just finished her last exam of the year!
Woo Hoo Jessa!
Three years of University down 7 more to go. Just kidding.

Congrats Jessa, I'm so proud of you.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Two Hour Lead, Thanks To Moron

Are you sure there are no earlier flights to Turkey?


It was a really gratifying episode of The Amazing Race last night. Minus knowing that it was most likely going to be a non elimination round the whole time.

Rob's cockiness & snarkiness tipped off Uchenna & Joyce to double check on an earlier flight to Turkey that they most likely never would of found. While Rob was calling them stupid and saying they have no clue etc, they were booking themselves and Meredith & Gretchen on a 2 hour earlier flight to Turkey. It was a satisfying moment in a very frustrating season.

It made me ill how rudely Rob, Amber, Ron & Kelly treated their "guide" Sanjay. I mean this guy helps them for probably 18 hours for free and they hardly even say bye to him! Total jerks.

Uchenna & Joyce did a great job and speeded through all of their challenges. The fact that they have now come in first twice and still no prize is outrageous!

I thought for sure that Rob & Amber were going to win a trip. Thank God they didn't.
And Ron standing in the tower looking over while Rob & Amber were on the mat was hilarious. Where did you think the key was, in the sky?

Meredith & Gretchen are still hanging in there. Meredith looks like he's limping quite a bit and Gretchen made it up the rope ladder which was great but I swear she cannot keep quiet for one minute. It's either screeching or she's making really odd faces. Still it is impressive that they are still racing.

I'm Very Disturbed By This

This is Lisa Whelchel's weekly entry into her online journal.
For those of you who don't know who Ms. Whelchel is, she's Blair from The Fact's of Life.

Read this!
This woman needs some serious intervention.
I'm not fond of born again Christians or people who spank their kids
so as you can imagine, I'm appalled.


Oh, I forgot. The most painful part... Little Miss spankipants is a successful author. She write parenting books for Christian parents. So she can spread her wealth of knowledge to the world. I wonder if my mother-in-law has any of her books.



This Week's Entry
April 25 , 2005


I Feel Your Pain

God of all Comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
2 Corinthians 1:4 ESV

I have never known stress like raising these three babies! It is so incredibly emotionally draining. And I think my kids are pretty good kids. But they drive me to want to scream at the top of my lungs and cry at least five times a day. They just don't do what I want them to do. They argue and are unkind to%

Lovely Weekend

It was a beautiful warm weekend.
Too nice to be inside on the computer although, I missed you all.
Thanks to everyone who dropped by and commented.

Here are a couple of pictures from the front garden.
I'm not a great photographer but you get the idea.

I stumbled onto this quiz today.
Let me know which Famous Leader you are.

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Blender Crossword ~ May

Across:

1. These emo kids want you to take their pain away (three words)

9. "Ebony and ____" (1982 hit) Carolyn ~ Ivory

10. John Lydon's post-pistols project (abbr.) Jody ~ PIL

12. Type of song 9 across is Carolyn ~ Duet

13. Chrissie Hynde-led band Carolyn ~ Pretenders

15. Baker who was givin' you the best that she got Carolyn ~ Anita

17. "Fabled" indie rapper ____ Rock

18. Bad-acting icon who covers Pulp's "Common People" Jody ~ Shatner

19. Motöhead frontman

21. R&B crooner who begged you to let him love you in 2004

24. You owe these Canadian dance rockers an I.O.U. (three words)

26. Homme or Groban Carolyn ~ Josh

29. Trent Reznor's band, for short Carolyn ~ NIN

30. Rock producer Ocasek Carolyn ~ Rik

31. RG sharps equivalent

32 Religious icon Marilyn Manson wants to be, at least in a recent cover (two words) Jody ~ Personal Jesus


Down:

2. "____I die before I get old" (two words)

3. Rod Stewart's Maggie Carolyn ~ May

4. What an audience demands at the end of a concert Carolyn ~ Encore

5. Superfast "Kamikaze" rapper

6. Glass object on the White Album Jody ~ Onion

7. The Shins sang about kissing the ____" Jody ~ Lipless

8. Teen actress with 2004 album Speak (two words) Jody ~ Lindsay Lohan

11. Welsh nü-metallers on the last train home (two words)

14. "____ Like Sunday Morning" Carolyn ~ Easy

16. Alternative trio with '80s hit "Dear God" Carolyn ~ XTC

17. "____ of Me" (Björk)

20. Dark spot where Franz Ferdinand likes to meet

22. The Osbournes' Matriarch Carolyn ~ Sharon

23. Rapper Dizzee

25. Brit band who want you to be here now Chelly ~ Oasis

27. 2004 Ashandi ballad (two words)

28. Dr. Dre's protegé Jayceon Taylor, a.k.a. The ____

Happy Earth Day!

Poppy and I took the kids for a long bike ride and play in the park today.
It was one of those days where you feel lucky to be alive and living where you are living.

International Turn Off TV Week

Playlist of the Week

1. Red Hot Mama ~ Funkadelic
2. I Wish ~ Stevie Wonder
3. Rock Steady ~ Aretha Franklin
4. Move On Up ~ Curtis Mayfield
5. Flashlight ~ Parliment
6. Express Yourself ~ Charles Wright
7. Funky Nassau ~ The Soul Society
8. Standing on the Verge of Getting it On ~ Parliment
9. Thank You ~ Sly and the Family Stone
10. Higher Ground ~ Stevie Wonder
    

Welcome To The Dark Side

My mother just informed me that she purchased this for our little one's birthday which is coming up in May. He will be thrilled!
So I guess I'll start to prepare myself to be woken up obscenely early to the sounds of:

YOU DON'T KNOW THE POWER OF THE DARK SIDE

YOUR POWERS ARE WEAK

DON'T MAKE ME DESTROY YOU

THERE IS NO ESCAPE

At least it will be a welcomed change from the really creepy Mr. Potato Head that he has been placing on my pillow at least three times a week for the past few months. Try rolling over on that.

Blender Crossword ~ April

Thanks to Jessa, Leisa, Chelly and Poppy for contributing answers for this months crossword. Here are the answers for the ones we didn't get. I think we did really well.

Across
5 ~ Encore
16 ~ Earl

Down
2 ~ River
6 ~ Chingy
15 ~ The Donnas
23 ~ Al Green
24 ~ Rascal

Thanks!



Across:

1. 2004 U2 hit featured heavily in iPod commercials

5. Eminem's latest CD

9. New Orleans crooner Aaron

10. Coldplay's record label

11. "____ Shot" (1994 Beastie Boys hit)

12. Jonathan Davis's rap-rock outfit

13. Head Foo Fighter

14. ____ the Gold Rush (Neil Young)

16. Scruggs of Flatt & Scruggs

19. Henry Rollins used to wave a black one

22. Grammy nominee ____.Arie

25. 7-Down's head guy

26. Notorious subject of the song in 3-Down

27. 50 Cent's protege Lloyd

29. Rapper who starred in Barbershop

30 & 31. She was busted lip-synching on SNL


Down:

1. Ivory-tickler Carlton

2. 23 Down wants you to take him here

3. "___ Be Missing You" (P. Diddy)

4. Idealistic Bob Marley hit from 1977's Exodus (two words)

5. Rigby of Beatles folklore

6. He's a Balla Baby

7. Kid A's daddies

8. This R&B singer has "unfinished business" with Jay-Z

15. California tomboys turned hair-metal goddesses

17. 1977 Steely Dan classic album with the hit "Peg"

18. This gangsta rapper might pimp your ride

20. Feminist pop-punk trio fronted by Kathleen Hannah

21. Ciara's first No. 1 (2004)

23. Reverend soul singer

24. Dizzee rapper from the U.K.

26. B.B. King's genre

28. Tag ___ (responsible for "Whoomp! There It Is")

I think I Just Threw Up A Little In My Mouth!

Gotta love that fish eyed lense.

What We're Addicted To At The Moment

Blokus! This game is seriously fun.
Great for people who love strategy.

What Causes An Ice Cream Headache?

My Five year old asked me this question this week and I didn't have an answer.
Now I do.

An ice cream headache is triggered by a sudden change in temperature that occurs in your mouth when you eat something cold.

On a hot day when you eat a snow cone, the cold crushed ice that touches the top of your mouth initiates a nerve reaction that swells blood vessels in your head. The nerve center on the roof of your mouth over-reacts to the cold temperature of the snow cone and tries to heat your brain. This swelling of blood vessels is what causes an ice cream headache, or what is more commonly known as "brain freeze" or "frozen brain syndrome."

Luckily the intense stabbing pain in your head usually lasts only for about 30-60 seconds.

30% of the human population suffers from these excruciating headaches. The best way to avoid getting an ice cream headache is keep the chilled foods or beverages you eat on the side of your mouth, away from the roof of your mouth.

No, This Is Not A Belated April Fools Joke

I don't get it either.
Apparently Ryan Seacrests' 10 long years as a cheesy radio DJ warrants
him a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Can Hollywood be any more lame?

Blog Curious

I was visiting a blog yesterday that I go to a few times a week.
I noticed while reading that two commenters were going at it (no, not that kind of going at it) they were fighting!

It seemed that the argument started over differing opinions about the posted topic but then quickly escalated into pretty fierce insults and ugly personal attacks. I was quite surprised although I'm sure this kind of thing does happen from time to time.

So, I became curious about the good, the bad and the ugly of blogging.

Today I'd like to talk about the ugly.

1. Have you ever received a rude comment?
2. Have you ever left a rude comment, deserved or otherwise?
3. Have you ever witnessed chippiness between two commenters?
4. Have you ever had a repeated visitor that you wish would lose interest?
5. Have you ever given your blog address to someone you later wished you hadn't?
6. Do you have any tales of blog weirdness you'd be willing to share?

I have been very lucky with my blog so far. If I had a nightmare story you guys would be the first to know.

Zoom Cancelled

One of the only TV shows that I don't mind my kids watching just got cancelled.

A show that encourages children to volunteer in their community, to enjoy reading, to cook, to dance, to enjoy life, to sing, to create their own games and science experiments and to actually communicate with each other just got cancelled?!? I don't get it.

I can't tell you how hard it is to find anything on TV for a 9 year old that isn't totally obnoxious, loud, violent, negative or just plain annoying. Don't even get me started on the shows that casually use words like: stupid, idiot and loser.

Apparently PBS says they can't compete with the likes of Nickelodeon. Well, why do they have to? Isn't PBS publicly funded educational television? I would think that they would want to offer children an alternative to Nickelodeon not try and compete with it!

If you are interested at all in trying to save this great show, please send an email here. Just use the scroll bar to find ZOOM.
Thanks so much,
Jody

Umm... Who did Tobey Maguire Eat?

Psychopaths at the Wheel!

My husband spent three months in Costa Rica about 15 years ago. He told me horrific stories about the crazy bus and cab drivers there. He even witnessed a bus driver hit a man on a bike, the bus driver then proceeded to drag the man to the side of the road, get back in the bus and continue driving. Apparently it happens quite often.

Here's an article about the cab and bus drivers in Peru.

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - Anyone climbing aboard a bus or taxi in Peru should think twice because many drivers have psychopathic tendencies, a university study said on Wednesday.

Some 40 percent of the 640 taxi and bus drivers surveyed by Lima's San Marcos University suffered from psychological problems and showed psychopathic tendencies, such as aggressive, anxious and antisocial behavior, the study said.

"Drivers showed they would not feel any guilt in injuring or running over a pedestrian," the study added.

Peru's capital, Lima, is crowded with aging, pollution-pumping taxis and buses, many of which do not obey traffic rules or stop lights.

Hundreds of people die each year in bus and taxi crashes in Peru because of bad roads, poorly maintained vehicles and recklessness by drivers. In just the last three months of last year at least 85 people were killed in crashes, according to police figures. Prosecution is rare.

Online Voter Registration

The BC Provincial election is a little over a month away. This is a very important election. If you haven't already registered to vote here's where you can do it online in under 5 minutes.

Who Us???

Here is a picture of Amber trying to act surprised that they won a trip.
Two words for you: acting lessons.


I don't have much to say about this episode of the Amazing Race.
It was boring, plain boring.
Rob & Amber came in first and surprise surprise, they won a trip.
The brother's are gone.
Why don't you just write the check to Rob & Amber right now.

My Kind of Map

I am absolutely addicted to the new "Google maps"
I have spent an obscene amount of time looking up every place I have
ever been to in the US & Canada.

This is where I live.
The clear cuts that you can only see from the air are horrifying.

Strangeness

• For hundreds of years, the Chinese zealously guarded the secret of sericulture; imperial law decreed death by torture to those who disclosed how to make silk.

• In the state of Queensland, Australia, it is still constitutional law that all pubs must have a railing outside for patrons to tie up their horse.

• Lawn darts are illegal in Canada.

• Theaters in Glendale, California can show horror films only on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.

• No building in DC may be taller than 13 floors. This is so that no matter where in the city you are, you can see the monument to our first president, Washington.

• During the time that the atomic bomb was being hatched by the United States at Alamogordo, New Mexico, applicants for routine jobs like janitors, were disqualified if they could read. Illiteracy was a job requirement. The reason: the authorities did not want their trash or other papers read.In Turkey, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, anyone caught drinking coffee was put to death.

• In Italy, it is illegal to make coffins out of anything except nutshells or wood.

• Impotence is grounds for divorce in 24 U.S. states.

• The murder rate in the United States is 200 times greater than in Japan. In Japan no private citizen can buy a handgun legally.

• In Montana, it is a felony for a wife to open her husband's mail.

• In Arkansas, a man can legally beat his wife, but not more than once a month.

• In Vermont, women must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth. In Mesquite, Texas it is illegal for kids to have unusual haircuts.

• Golf was banned in England in 1457 because it was considered a distraction from the serious pursuit of archery.In Alabama, dominoes may not be played on Sunday.

• It's against the law for a woman to drive in a house coat in California.

• In New Orleans, Louisiana, fire trucks are legally required to stop at all red lights.

• In Louisiana, biting someone with your natural teeth is "simple assault," while biting someone with your false teeth is "aggravated assault." Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.

• The only acceptable sexual position in Washington D.C. is the missionary position. Any other sexual position is considered illegal.

Death penalty At Record levels

Nearly 4,000 people were executed worldwide in '04
The most in nearly a decade, Amnesty International says.

China carried out more executions than all other countries combined - at least 3,400 - the human rights group says.

The global rise in executions was "alarming", said Amnesty's UK director Kate Allen, who called the figures from China "genuinely frightening".

China says it will tighten conditions under which people can be executed, and the US has already done so.

The US came fourth in Amnesty's table of executions, with 59 in 2004.

Iran came second, with at least 159, followed by Vietnam with at least 64.

The 3,797 executions in 2004 were the second-largest annual total in the last 25 years, the organisation said.

And it noted that its numbers represented the minimum number of executions it could confirm.

"Many countries continue to execute people in secret," Ms Allen said.

BBC

Get Well Soon Neil!

Neil Young is out of surgery after it was discovered he had suffered a brain aneurysm.
We love Neil and wish him a very speedy recovery.

Engrish Pic of the Week

Stationary just isn't stationary without the Napalm.

Romber Room

Well, it turned out to be an April Fools joke which I think makes it even funnier.
If you'd like to check it out here's the link.


Courtesy of TV Tattle

April Fools