It's been mentioned several times in here that I love to visit the StartSampling website. I always get a free sample if they're offered that day and if one or more of the recipes catches my fancy, I often save the entire page in order to try the recipe out later.
There are also helpful hints as well as a section for members seeking help with things such as how to get certain stains/odors out. Today a 72 yr. old lady was asking how she could get her meat loaf recipe to "stand up". She stated that it was one thing she hadn't been able to do in her life and her husband was about to leave her because of it.
Several people gave her some good advice/recipes on the msg. board, but one reply made me literally laugh out loud:
by KEMMERZ
At 72 years old ... who is he to gripe about something not being firm enough?
I had to leave a reply.
October 8, 2008
Firm Meat Loaf
October 7, 2008
Debate TV
I'm opting for a rerun of
I've never seen that show, but anything nekkid has GOTTA be better than pols with their clothes on.
DCC Alumni
Watch the video of the current and alumni Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders at last weekend's game with the Bengals. Most of the former cheerleaders from the 70's and 80's still look pretty good!
October 6, 2008
Memory Test
From the email archives:
MEMORY TEST!
This is NOT a pushover test. There are 20 questions. Average score is 12. It will help if you are over 60! This one will be difficult for the younger set. Have fun, but no peeking!
When you forward this to your friends/family, put your score in the subject line & let them know your score. Don't forget to forward it to me, as well. Good luck youngsters.
1. What builds strong bodies 12 ways?
A. Flintstones vitamins
B. The Buttmaster
C. Spaghetti
D. Wonder Bread
E. Orange Juice
F. Milk
G. Cod Liver Oil
2. Before he was Muhammad Ali, he was...
A. Sugar Ray Robinson
B. Roy Orbison
C. Gene Autry
D. Rudolph Valentino
E. Fabian
F. Mickey Mantle
G. Cassius Clay
3. Pogo, the comic strip character said, 'We have met the enemy and...
A. It's you
B. He is us
C. It's the Grinch
D. He wasn't home
E. He's really me and you
F. We quit
G. He surrendered
4. Good night David.
A. Good night Chet
B. Sleep well
C. Good night Irene
D. Good night Gracie
E. See you later alligator
F. Until tomorrow
G. Good night Steve
5. You'll wonder where the yellow went...
A. When you use Tide
B. When you lose your crayons
C. When you clean your tub
D. If you paint the room blue
E. If you buy a soft water tank
F. When you use Lady Clairol
G. When you brush your teeth with Pepsodent
6. Before he was the Skipper's Little Buddy, Bob Denver was Dobie's friend...
A. Stuart Whitman
B. Randolph Scott
C. Steve Reeves
D. Maynard G. Krebbs
E. Corky B. Dork
F. Dave the Whale
G. Zippy Zoo
7. Liar, liar...
A. You're a liar
B. Your nose is growing
C. Pants on fire
D. Join the choir
E. Jump up higher
F. On the wire
G. I'm telling Mom
8. Meanwhile, back in Metropolis, Superman fights a never ending battle for truth, justice and...
A. Wheaties
B. Lois Lane
C. TV ratings
D. World peace
E. Red tights
F. The American way
G. News headlines
9. Hey kids! What time is it?
A. It's time for Yogi Bear
B. It's time to do your homework
C. It's Howdy Doody Time
D. It's Time for Romper Room
E. It's bedtime
F. The Mighty Mouse Hour
G. Scooby Doo Time
10. Lions and tigers and bears...
A. Yikes
B. Oh no
C. Gee whiz
D. I'm scared
E. Oh my
F. Help! Help!
G. Let's run
11. Bob Dylan advised us never to trust anyone...
A. Over 40
B. Wearing a uniform
C. Carrying a briefcase
D. Over 30
E. You don't know
F. Who says, 'Trust me'
G. Who eats tofu
12. NFL quarterback who appeared in a television commercial wearing women's stockings...
A. Troy Aikman
B. Kenny Stabler
C. Joe Namath
D. Roger Stauback
E. Joe Montana
F. Steve Young
G. John Elway
13. Brylcream...
A. Smear it on
B. You'll smell great
C. Tame that cowlick
D. Grease ball heaven
E. It's a dream
F. We're your team
G. A little dab'll do ya
14. I found my thrill...
A. In Blueberry muffins
B. With my man, Bill
C. Down at the mill
D. Over the windowsill
E. With thyme and dill
F. Too late to enjoy
G. On Blueberry Hill
15. Before Robin Williams, Peter Pan was played by...
A. Clark Gable
B. Mary Martin
C. Doris Day
D. Errol Flynn
E. Sally Fields
F. Jim Carey
G. Jay Leno
16. Name the Beatles...
A. John, Steve, George, Ringo
B. John, Paul, George, Roscoe
C. John, Paul, Stacey, Ringo
D. Jay, Paul, George, Ringo
E. Lewis, Peter, George, Ringo
F. Jason, Betty, Skipper, Hazel
G. John, Paul, George, Ringo
17. I wonder, wonder, who..
A. Who ate the leftovers?
B. Who did the laundry?
C. Was it you?
D. Who wrote the book of love?
E. Who I am?
F. Passed the test?
G. Knocked on the door?
18. I'm strong to the finish...
A. Cause I eats my broccoli
B. Cause I eats me spinach
C. Cause I lift weights
D. Cause I'm the hero
E. And don't you forget it
F. Cause Olive Oyl loves me
G. To outlast Bruto
19. When it's least expected, you're elected, you're the star today...
A. Smile, you're on Candid Camera
B. Smile, you're on Star Search
C. Smile, you won the lottery
D. Smile, we're watching you
E. Smile, the world sees you
F. Smile, you're a hit
G. Smile, you're on TV
20. What do M & M's do?
A. Make your tummy happy
B. Melt in your mouth, not in your pocket
C. Make you fat
D. Melt your heart
E. Make you popular
F. Melt in your mouth, not in your hand
G. Come in colors
Below are the right answers:
1. D - Wonder Bread
2. G - Cassius Clay
3. B - He Is Us
4. A - Good night, Chet
5. G - When you brush your teeth with Pepsodent
6. D - Maynard G. Krebbs
7. C - Pants On Fire
8. F - The American Way
9. C - It's Howdy Doody Time
10. E - Oh My
11. D - Over 30
12. C - Joe Namath
13. G - A little dab'll do ya
14. G - On Blueberry Hill
15. B - Mary Martin
16. G - John, Paul, George, Ringo
17. D - Who wrote the book of Love
18. B - Cause I eats me spinach
19. A - Smile, you're on Candid Camera
20. F - Melt In Your Mouth Not In Your Hand
October 5, 2008
Happy Birthday Kate!
It's Kate Winslet's birthday.
I remember the first time I ever saw her; it was also the last time I went to the movies. I watched Titanic and enjoyed the movie, but came away totally in love with Kate Winslet.
I'm gonna have to write a post about the dozen or so actresses/entertainers that have made me have a schoolboy crush on. Some of 'em I WAS a schoolboy at the time, so I can't be faulted for them.
rubicund
From the Word of the Day feed in the right-hand column:
rubicund \ROO-bih-kund\, adjective:
Inclining to redness; ruddy; red.
Now, that's a word I cannot recall ever hearing used or even seeing in print. For example, I've never seen/heard this:
"My goodness, for some unknown reason, your posterior has become rebicund."
It's always been:
"Wow, sumpthin's got the red ass up on you!"
Surfin' Bird - The Trashmen
That's what I (and you) get for watching The Family Guy this evening.
(I had to edit this post; I had put The Simpsons instead of The Family Guy. I watched The Simpsons, something I very rarely do, then watched Family Guy, something else that I seldom watch.)
October 4, 2008
Sundae Quiz on Saturday
You Are a Hot Fudge Sundae |
 Classic, simple, and divine. Why mess with perfection? |
October 3, 2008
October 2, 2008
Frenchy
This looks almost exactly, caricature-wise, like a guy I knew while growing up and after we got out on our own, we worked together on drilling rigs. Everyone had a nickname (mine was "Leroy") and his was "Fry".
We had a tool pusher, an older guy, who liked to call everyone by their given nicknames, but he never could remember "Fry" and with the association, would call him "Frenchy".
"Frenchy Fry", gettit?
More Political Truth
The only difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is that the Democrats allow the poor to be corrupt, too.
- Oscar Levant
A Little Too Personal
Dictionary.com is gettin' close to home on the Word of the Day
slugabed \SLUHG-uh-bed\, noun:
One who stays in bed until a late hour; a sluggard.
So, I guess when I say I'm a "slacker", I'm flattering myself?
October 1, 2008
Free Panties!
From the website:
There's never a good time for an underwear problem to creep up on you. Hanes® Comfort Fit Promise guarantees the panty won't ride up or your money back. Sign up to try a pair on us and see for yourself.
I'm not in the market for panties, free or otherwise, but if I were, I'd want these "Be Wedgie-Free! ™" type.
It's always a good thing to be wedgie-free. I used to have a girlfriend who called some of her undies "Viet Cong drawers" 'cause they crept up on her.
Free Panties
Best Storm Pics of 2008
Ran across this blog in an unrelated search; the photos are spectacular, well worth a look.
David Taliaferro Storm Chaser (Home Page)
September 30, 2008
Not The Hole Story
What Your Socks Say About You |
 You Are: - Very thoughtful - Quite calculating - Known as a serious person - A little bit conservative |
This quiz doesn't even come close to how anal I am about my socks. It gives me a feeling of dread thinking about wearing a pair of socks with a hole or holes in them.
Steal the Cookie
Play Steal the Cookie, a nifty little game from Kashi.com: Snoop around the kitchen with a magnifying glass, get the hints and use them to put the cookie ingredients in the right order and win a free cookie!
I'm not saying how long it took me to suss it out. I probably wouldn't have played if I had known I could've just filled out the form and got the cookie, anyway.
September 29, 2008
Table Tennis
From the same folks who brought you Play With Spider, here's a fun table tennis game.
"Fun" is relative, I suppose. It was still fun, even though it kicked my butt. I have played it three times and managed to increase my score by one each time. I've never played it TOO long, but the last score was 63-3.
Play Table Tennis
September 28, 2008
panache
From the Word of the Day feed in the right-hand column:
panache \puh-NASH; -NAHSH\, noun:
1. Dash or flamboyance in manner or style.
2. A plume or bunch of feathers, esp. such a bunch worn on the helmet; any military plume, or ornamental group of feathers.
I don't think I've ever, ever had any panache. I know I've never worn feathers in my cap.
September 27, 2008
Rich German Chocolate Brownies
Yesterday (Friday) the StartSampling website had this recipe:
The trademark German chocolate brownie is made of mild, sweet chocolate and has an irresistibly rich and gooey nutty, coconut frosting.
Prep Time:15 min
Start to Finish:1 hr 50 min
Makes:24 brownies
Ingredients
1 bag (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 1/4 cups Gold Medal all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, beaten
1 container Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy coconut pecan frosting
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 oz)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
Heat oven to 350F. In 3-quart saucepan, melt 2 cups chocolate chips and the butter over low heat, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Stir in flour, sugar, vanilla, baking powder, salt and eggs. Spread batter in ungreased 13x9-inch pan.
Bake 27 to 34 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
In medium bowl, mix frosting, 1 cup chocolate chips and the walnuts. Spread frosting mixture over brownies. For brownies, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No change.
Source: Betty Crocker
(hey, if they can copy off of Betty Crocker, I can copy it from them)
Not that recipes will become a part of this blog, but I just wanted to put this in. The brownies look SO delicious....but I don't really like coconut.
Back when I was a kid, my sisters and I would wake up on Christmas mornings to presents and goodies. Sometimes our goody basket would have exotic nuts, a pineapple and coconuts.
I woke up in the middle of the night, went into the living room where Santa had already left the presents, looked at mine, snooped around my sisters and decided I'd eat one of the coconuts.
I took it out to the garage, put dad's claw hammer to work and gulped down the milk and gnawed the coconut meat down to the shell.
That wasn't enough for my little greedy gut: I decided one coconut was good, so two must be twice as nice. I crept back into the house, careful not to awaken anyone, grabbed the other coconut, took it out to the garage and ate it, too.
Like the character in Cast Away says "Betcha didn't know coconut is a natural laxative."
I've known that since that Christmas Day.
I also took the cure on pineapple, too. My mom had one of those big jars full of brandied fruit, pineapple and cherries, I forget what-all was in it. It was fermented, and was an adult treat, not for kids. The alcohol content wasn't all THAT much, but it adds up...
...if you eat nearly the entire jar.
Nope, to this day I don't like pineapple or coconut. I'd be in a helluva shape if I was stuck on some desert island like Tom Hanks was in the movie.
There's always monkey meat, I guess.
Play With Spider
A creepy flash application.
A spider is crawling on a map. Use the slider bars at the top right hand corner to change the color of the spider, its height and leg length, the speed at which it crawls, many other variables. Use the space button to feed it insects.
Good Grief. If only there was a "rolled up newspaper" button, I'd like it more.
Play With Spider
September 26, 2008
6-Man Football on the Map
View the public schools in Texas playing six-man football thanks to this post at the Google Earth Community.
To view in Google Earth, you will need the software, but it's also available in Google Maps.
melee
From the Word of the Day:
melee \MAY-lay; may-LAY\, noun:
1. A fight or hand-to-hand struggle in which the combatants are mingled in one confused mass.
2. A confused conflict or mingling.
I've been in those, both definitions, 1 & 2. . The last time was the day after Thanksgiving sale at Wal-Mart a few years back. Either definition suited that particular trip.
Never again. The horror...the horror.
September 25, 2008
Silly Presidential Poll
Classmates.com sent me a silly little poll so I gave them silly little answers.
September 24, 2008
Fall Has Fell
Your Autumn Test Results |
 You are a energetic, warm, optimistic person. You approach everything with a lot of enthusiasm. When you are happiest, you are calm. You appreciate tradition and family. You enjoy feeling cozy. You tend to be afraid of change. You are never ready for things to be different. You find solitude to be the most comforting thing in the world. Being alone with your thoughts feels very peaceful. Your ideal day is active and full. You like to keep busy with your favorite things, and you appreciate a routine. You are very impatient. You spend more time waiting for something than actually enjoying it. |
September 23, 2008
Emmy Awards Poll
The most recent poll from StartSampling.
The results don't surprise me and are encouraging. Really, who would want to watch a bunch of Hollywood ultra-liberal elitists honor and congratulate each other?
Especially when the Dallas/Green Bay game was on another channel!
Rhythm of the Rain - The Cascades
September 22, 2008
Photobucket Tiled Background
(click image for larger view)
The perils of using Photobucket.
Found on a MySpace site.
September 21, 2008
Cowboys Win in Green Bay
First win ever at Lambeau Field.
Cowboys win this one by even more than the score shows. The contest started out looking like the Packers would dink and dunk their way to a win, but Dallas made the necessary adjustments at halftime and came out and put the game away.
Next week the Cowboys host the 2-1 Washington Redskins. The combined record of NFC East teams is 10-2. The East is a Beast!
The Night of a Hundred Points
I was halfway through my meal when I flipped open the sports pages, looking for the h.s. football scores. I saw where Pampa had lost, Canadian had won and my alma mater had been involved in a barn-burner, on the short end of a 106 - 82 shootout with the Fort Elliot Cougars.
Rats, I had thought I might go catch that game! Shoulda, woulda, coulda, that's always been my after-the-fact motto. *sigh*
It made me recall a game we played against Turpin; they were the Oklahoma 8-Man champs the year before, but we had them down 28-0 at halftime. I never will forget the screams from their bus during the intermission. (there was no field house at the football field, so both teams generally retired to the busses that had brought them out there from the school)
"You're letting those pipsqueaks beat you!" Stuff like that. It was true, Turpin had always beaten us in the past, but that night we made them pay for their overconfidence.
At least until halftime was over.
We scored a few more times but they scored more, and at the end of the game the score was tied 40-40. I believe, at that time, that was the second highest tie game in football history, some college teams knotting it up at 42-all. As I said, that's what we thought at the time, and a cursory Google search doesn't make me disbelieve it.
We were usually not that good. I remember bein' on the wrong end of some 70-something point ass kickin's in football. We had a few of the other type lopsides, but I don't remember them nearly as well as I do the others.
(I also remember starting to stall just after halftime in a basketball game with Allison; we had to slow the game down, keep them from reaching 100 points...and beating us by 60)
Miami, with their high but lower score, would've had third place in the standings for the state six-man highest score games, but on the same night, Throckmorton squeaked by May by two points and managed to become the number one highest scoring Texas six-man football game of all-time.
From sixmanfootball.com:
(202) Throckmorton 102 May 100 (2008)
(195) Temple Holy Trinity 112 SA Winston 83 (2004)
(189) Amarillo Bible Heritage 102 Northside 87 (2006)
(188) Fort Elliott 106 Miami 82 (2008)(187) Houston Sharpstown 148 Houston Lee 39 (1995)
The Miami Warriors will have to settle for fourth.
Sure wish I had gone to the game.
Vince, The Pack & Mrs. Olsen
I'm sure looking forward to the Packers/Cowboys game tonight. I hope the Pokes can beat 'em, and I think they will. (probably jinxed 'em, right there)
I thought it another one of those insignificant - but cool - coincidences that a day or so ago there was a Vince Lombardi quote on the Quote of the Day feed in the right-hand column. Lombardi was the coach of the Green Bay Packers and is considered to be one of the best football coaches of all time.
I had a coach for the first couple of years in h.s.; he hadn't been out of the Army for very long, had a wife and a young girl. He was fresh off his first coaching job, having some success, so his gung-ho atttitude was still fierce...but I think my home town drained him of a lot of it in the short time he was there.
Anyway...he was fond of Lombardi quotes and had them plastered all over the locker room, a few nicely printed out and framed in his office. There were a few I thought silly, such as
"A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall."
What a crock. So self-serving...of course if your life is football, you'll defend it even with nonsensical "facts".
There were, however, a few that I've remembered all my life and thought them profound then and still do:
"Fatigue makes cowards of us all."
And "Luck is where preparation meets opportunity."
During my sophomore year I injured my knee and was out of practice for a game and a week's practice. My mom bought me Jerry Kramer's book, Instant Replay to read while I was recuperating. I admired Kramer; we played the same position, both of us were pulling guards, but I'll go to my death thinking he beat the snap on the winning touchdown in The Ice Bowl.
(4:27 on the video, it's certainly debatable, I'll admit)
My pop and this coach became good buddies, but that sure didn't curry me any favor with the coach. If anything, he seemed to go harder on me, almost more than I could bear. One time when I was at my breaking point, ready to quit the team crying, he told me "Mike, I wouldn't be so hard on you if I didn't think you had good potential." Looking at it from that perspective, I could see that he didn't spend nearly as much time (especially yelling time) with most of the other boys as he did with me. I think he realized that I was one of those guys who needed to be pushed, but also appreciated. I think most people are like that, actually.
I remember a time when we were playing basketball in Booker; I rode with my folks and we were early by quite a bit, even for my sister's game which came before mine. We rode around the tiny town for a while, then Dad saw the coach and got him to get in the car with us; we drove a couple of blocks away from the school to a burned-out house. Dad pointed at it and with a snicker told him:
"That's where last year's coach lived."
And now for my Green Bay Packers joke:
Mrs. Ollie Olsen, a Scandinavian immigrant to the U.S. was drawing attention because of her size, 6'8", 345 lbs. Reporters were interviewing her, asking her questions such as "Gee, Mrs. Olsen, how'd you get so big?"
"Ah, from eating dot gud Svedish cheese." she replied with a good-natured smile.
Another reporter yelled out: "You're big enough to play for the Green Bay Packers, Mrs. Olsen!"
Turning serious, she grimly replied:
"Nein, I play wid nobody's packer but Ollie's."
50 More P
Found this joke in a Joke of the Day feed I tested (and rejected) for this blog. Gotta love that Brit humour.
A man walked into a bar after just being dumped. The person serving at the time was a woman. She kept on giving him free drinks the whole night. When the bar had closed she went up to him and asked if he wanted to go upstairs for a quicky. He of course said yes and they went upstairs.
When they got there the women asked if he had any protection. He didn't have any and answered no. So she told him there was a chemist across the road and gave him £ 1.
When he got to the chemist there were a selection of condoms to choose from:
There was a tramp one for 50 p.
There was an apple flavoured one for £ 1.
And there was a metal one for £ 1.50.
As he only had one pound the man bought the apple flavoured one.
During the the night of fun the condom slipped and the lady got pregnant. The couple married and raised a son.
When he was 5 years old, he went up to his dad and cried: "Daddy why do I have green arms? This is not fair."
To this the dad replied: "I would count yourself lucky my son. If I would have had an extra 50 p you would have been Robo-Cop"
At the current exchange rates, 50 pence is about a quarter.
September 20, 2008
Happy Together - The Turtles
Noticed a hit on this, and as I've been prone to doing lately, checked to see if the video still worked. The original one had been removed by the poster, so I found this one.
Wiki on The Turtles
Some interesting stuff there on Wiki (for what that's worth) about the band. I was trying to think of at least one other song they did, but I couldn't name one with any certainty. After looking through my mp3 library, I saw I had "She'd Rather Be With Me". YouTube also has Some Girl
This song reminds me of a girl (girl, hell, she's probably a grandmother now) who always liked this song when we were in school together. I liked it too, and maybe it's the things we have in common with others that hold on longest in our memories.
mizprize
Word of the Day feed from Dictionary.com
misprize \mis-PRYZ\, transitive verb:
1. To hold in contempt.
2. To undervalue.
Boy howdy, do I know this word!
Every time I buy a lotto ticket, play the grocery store games, enter a contest on the 'net, I always mizprise.
Prairie Dog Comic
Cute little vid
Used to be a lot of prairie dogs around here, one large town near the Cabot carbon black R&D plant, but I believe they were poisoned when it was found that some had died from and others carried bubonic plague. The rodents, an important part of the prairie ecosystem, also can carry tularemia. (my ex-wife's uncle died from tularemia)
I saw a documentary on prairie dogs a few years back; in one of the northern plains states, they were killed as sport from long distances with high-powered and scoped rifles. I know they're a nuisance to ranchers, cattle and horses sometimes breaking their legs in the holes that dot the landscape where they make their "towns" and according to Wiki, they are also accused of damaging crops and spreading brush.
September 19, 2008
tintinnabulation
From Word of the Day:
tintinnabulation \tin-tih-nab-yuh-LAY-shuhn\, noun:
A tinkling sound, as of a bell or bells.
If you put bells on a German Shepard, it would be a rintintinnabulation.
