Thursday

Great day for the 4th of July

Great day for the 4th of July

Happy 
birthday, 
America!






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    Don't Sing in the Shower on June 30th


    Don't Sing in the Shower on June 30th

    La-la-la-la … oh, no!

    June 30th is Don’t Sing in the Shower Day.  Wanna know why?

    Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho thriller premiered on June 30, 1960. Remember the scary shower scene, when Anthony Perkins’ crazed character literally liquidated Janet Leigh’s character in the shower?

    Here’s the film footage, one of the most famous scary scenes or violent vignettes in motion picture history:

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    Conserve water on June 30th. Take a quicker shower than usual, and save your singing voice! You never know who might be listening, anyway.

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    Film reel photo – public domain

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    Tuesday

    Surveying on Weighing: How do you feel about your own weight?

    Surveying on Weighing: How do you feel about your own weight?

    Do you weigh yourself daily, weekly or almost never? How often do you step on the scales? Is a weigh-in stressful for you?

    Yahoo! Shine recently published the results of a survey, in which they asked women how frequently they check their body weights. 

    Here’s what they found:

    • 35% - weigh in daily
    • 21% - weigh in weekly
    • 3% - weigh in monthly
    • 22% - weigh in randomly
    • 13% - weigh in during doctor visits
    • 6% - weigh in never

    Where do you fit in the weigh-in scale?

    Do you think weigh-in frequency impacts diet habits, weight gain or loss or fitness goals? How do you feel, if you discover your have gained a few pounds … or lost a few?

    Nutritionists may offer charts of ideal body weights, basing their calculations on such factors as age, body type, daily activity levels, overall health and more.

    Just for fun, I tried a blog survey to see what my own ideal weight supposedly ought to be; Here’s what it said:
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    If you weigh less than this, you either have a fast metabolism or are about to gain weight. If you weigh more than this, you may be losing a few pounds soon!


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    Is that what I weigh? Not exactly. Actually, I weigh in a lot lower than 130. But, nope, I’m not spilling my stats on here.

    Actually, I’d love to lose a few pounds, particularly as it’s summer shorts and swimsuit season.

    Still, the blog quiz says I have some wiggle room. Would such statistics lie?

    Shoot me those Fourth of July chips and salsa, would you? Hand over the strawberry-blueberry cupcakes. Please pass the popsicles. It’s practically a patriotic duty for Americans on Independence Day.


    Salute! And salud. (And let's not weigh in till July 5th.)

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    Monday

    Happy Birthday to the Happy Birthday Songstress

    Happy Birthday to the Happy Birthday Songstress

    Happy birthday to you.
    Happy birthday to you.
    Happy birthday, dear special one.
    Happy birthday to you!

    Kentucky kindergarten and Sunday school teacher Mildred J. Hill composed this familiar ditty in the late 19th century. Originally, she tagged the tune as “Good Morning to All.”

    Her younger sister Patty, who also taught kindergarten, helped with the “Happy Birthday” lyrics. The two sisters were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (posthumously) in 1996 for their accomplishment.

    Happy birthday, Mildred Hill!

    Did you know that today is Mildred J. Hill’s birthday? That’s right. She was born 152 years ago today, on June 27, 1859.

    Who else has a birthday today?

    Helen Keller, “Spiderman” Toby Maguire, Lorrie Morgan, Ross Perot and many others share this birthdate.


    What famous folks share your birthday?

    Click here to visit HAPPY  BIRTHDAY TODAY -  celebrity and notable birthdays for each day of the year
    Check out Happy Birthday Today, and find out what artists, athletes, artists, business leaders, entertainers, scientists, world leaders and other famous folks share (or shared) the same date of birth as you!

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    Friday

    What are America's best ice cream spots?


    What are America's best ice cream spots?

    Does ice cream hit the spot for you? Are you a sucker for soft serve, or you love hand-dipped scoops of this frozen dairy favorite?

    Where can you find the best ice cream spots in the nation?

    Food & Wine magazine lists their 25 top picks for U.S. ice cream spots (listed alphabetically below).

    • Amy's Ice Cream - Austin, Texas
    • Annabelle's Natural Ice Cream – Portsmouth, New Hampshire
    • Big Dipper Ice Cream – Missoula, Montana
    • Bi-Rite Creamery – San Francisco, California
    • Blue Marble – Brooklyn, New York
    • Bubbie's Ice Cream  - Honolulu, Hawaii
    • Cool Moon Ice Cream – Portland, Oregon
    • Crescent Ridge Dairy Bar – Sharon, Massachusetts
    • Four Seas Ice Cream – Centerville, Massachusetts
    • Glace Artisan Ice Cream – Kansas City, Missouri
    • Graeter's – Cincinnati, Ohio
    • Ici Ice Cream – Berkeley, California
    • Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams – Columbus, Ohio
    • Maple View Farm and Dairy – Hillsborough, North Carolina
    • Molly Moon Ice Cream – Seattle, Washington
    • Moomers Homemade Ice Cream – Traverse City, Michigan
    • Mora Iced Creamery – Bainbridge Island, Washington
    • Mount Desert Ice Cream – Bar Harbor, Maine
    • Pumphouse Creamery – Minneapolis, Minnesota
    • Sweet Action Ice Cream – Denver, Colorado
    • Sweet Republic – Scottsdale, Arizona
    • The Creole Creamery – New Orleans, Louisiana
    • Three Twins Organic Ice Cream – San Rafael, California
    • Toscanini's – Cambridge, Massachusetts
    • Woodside Farm Creamery – Hockessin, Delaware
    Have you tried any of these top ice cream spots?

    Personally, I’ve been to at least three of the ice cream spots on the Food & Wine pick list.

    Here are a few ice cream spots Food & Wine seems to have missed.

    • Brigham’s Ice Cream – all over New England
    • Gray’s Ice Cream – Tiverton, Rhode Island
    • Homer’s Ice Cream – Wilmette, Illinois
    • Leopold’s Ice Cream – Savannah, Georgia
    • Lulu’s Sweet Apothecary – New York City, New York
    • The Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory – New York City, New York
    • Richardson’s Ice Cream – Boston, Massachusetts
    • Scoop’s – Los Angeles, California
    • Shain’s of Maine – Sanford, Maine
    • Sherman’s Dairy – South Haven, Michigan
     
    Can you name any other super ice cream spots?

    Where do you go, when you’ve gotta have a fine ice cream fix? And what’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?

    Do you know a secret hometown ice cream spot, or do you usually opt for a larger chain? If you pick a nationwide ice cream purveyor, are you partial to Ashby’s Sterling, Baskin-Robbins, Ben & Jerry’s, Cold Stone Creamery, Culver’s, Dairy Queen, Dutch Dreams, Friendly's, Starbuck’s, TBCY or another ice cream spot?

    By the way, June 25th is National Strawberry Parfait Day.

    You know the drill:

    I scream.
    You scream.
    We all scream
    For ice cream.

    And that’s the scoop.

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    Wednesday

    Will your favorite brand names vanish by 2012?

    Will your favorite brand names vanish by 2012?

    What’s your favorite brand name?

    Annually, once-popular companies seem to fall by the wayside, as business analysts and customers scratch their heads in wonders. Occasionally, economists and market watchers predict these demises. Often, however, household names simply vanish.

    24/7 Wall St. publishes perennial lists of brand names they expect to disappear. The calculations are based on company disclosures, falling sales figures, rising  costs, bankruptcy filings, market share reductions and other related factors.

    Last year, they correctly predicted the disappearance of T-Mobile and Blockbuster.

    What are their top 10 predictions for 2012?

    Look at the list of familiar businesses that are expected to evaporate by next year, according to the 24/7 forecasters.

    1. Sears
    2. Sony Pictures
    3. American Apparel
    4. Nokia
    5. Saab
    6. A and W All-American Foods Restaurants
    7. Soap Opera Digest
    8. Sony Ericsson
    9. MySpace
    10. Kellogg’s Corn Pops
    Do you agree with these predictions? Why or why not?

    Which of these brand names would you be saddest to lose?

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    FDA releases mandated cigarette warning labels with gory smoking photos

    FDA releases mandated cigarette warning labels with gory smoking photos
    Warning: Viewing cigarette smoking warning labels may be hazardous to your health, at least visually, mentally and emotionally!

    Scroll down through this post to see all nine FDA cigarette warning labels, as recently released 

    These images are quite graphic and may be disturbing to some viewers. 

    Actually, that's sort of the idea.

    For decades, cigarette product packaging has borne printed warnings on the health risks of smoking tobacco. The U.S. Surgeon General has been widely quoted. (A series of Surgeon Generals have come out on the dangers of first- and second-hand smoke.)

    Consumers have long known the potential perils of participating in smoking. 

    Various cancers (including cancer of the bladder, cervix, esophagus, kidney, larynx, lung, mouth, throat, stomach, uterus and more), emphysema, leukemia, heart disease, miscarriages, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), bronchitis and other dangers have been widely known.

    Now, however, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken these cautions to a new level. 

    Perhaps patterning their approach after graphic displays produced by many other nations, the FDA has come out with a series of gory full-color images portraying the hazards of smoking.

    By fall 2012, cigarette packaging will likely be expected to sport the new FDA warnings. The warning labels are to be placed across the tops of all packages of cigarettes.


    The images are also to be included in advertisements for cigarettes.

    And holy moley! 

    Did you know Americans purchase 15 billion packs of cigarettes each year? 

    Who still thinks smoking is sexy? 

    Has tobacco lost its appeal?


    Do you think the new FDA warning labels will stop people from smoking? Will the graphic and disturbing images deter folks from lighting up?

    Can scary photos cause smokers to kick the habit? Will tobacco addictions be broken by viewing these jarring images?


    What do you think?



    How do you feel about the FDA's series of proposed cigarette warning labels?


    And what about other smoking products, such as pipe and chewing tobacco? 
     
    Will FDA warnings be added to these items? Should tobacco companies be required to place such images on these other products?


    Here's a peek at the gory cigarette warning photos.

    Take a look at the new FDA cigarette warning labels, representing the first substantive change in printed cigarette warnings in nearly a quarter of a century in the U.S.:

     
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