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Wednesday, October 12, 2011
TV Ratings Race - ESPN At Kansas
Update: ESPN got a 2.3 overnight TV rating according to our friends at the Sports Business Journal. That is the same as the fourth race in the 2010 chase held in Fontana, CA. That will probably dip NASCAR below 4 million viewers when final ratings come out on Tuesday afternoon.
Update #2: Final TV rating grew to 3.1 cable households, allowing the total viewer number to top 4 million total. That is pretty stout up against the NFL.
We are getting some very interesting and thoughtful comments from readers, so this will continue as the lead story. I hope you will add your opinion to the conversation as well. Thanks.
Once again ESPN faced up to another race that centered around fuel mileage and little passing. Pit stops and race strategy were at a premium from start to finish.
Nicole Briscoe hosted a pre-race show that included one Sprint Cup Series driver in the Infield Pit Studio. If there was any doubt that Carl Edwards is going to be joining the NASCAR on ESPN telecast team in 2012, it should have been erased by that appearance.
Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty are often times more amusing than informative these days. Brad is the cheerleader and Rusty tries his best to address issues in the sport selected for him well in advance. Wallace and Daugherty did not look very happy that Carl Edwards was once again invading their territory.
Allen Bestwick knew early on this was going to be a race of survival. He changed from calling the laps to leading discussions on various topics and working the pit reporters and Tim Brewer on issues. There was little racing except on restarts and no accidents. It had that familiar smell.
After a Nationwide Series telecast that featured all kinds of changes, the Cup telecast stayed true to the script. Tight shots from the start and coverage that jumped from one car to another made it tough to watch. "Hyper-tight" is apparently here to stay.
Kudos to the pit reporters who have worked very hard in the last two races climbing up to talk with the crew chiefs as the race is going on. That is the perspective that is needed with this type of racing. Learning why decisions were made is super.
Petree was on his game and his analysis has been sharper this season than ever before. He has been with ESPN from the start and is a veteran of all these changes. Jarrett worked well, but Petree continues to set the pace in the TV booth.
A late caution allowed for some drama and a final dash to the finish. A Jimmie Johnson win sets-up some good stories for the media this week. A ten minute post-race left time for a solid set of interviews. ESPN left the air on time.
This post will serve to host your opinion of the ESPN coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from Kansas Speedway. To add your comment, just click on the comments button below. Thanks for stopping by.
46 comments:
- Buschseries61 said...
A very horrid race from laps 20-206 featuring the standard ESPN problems. The long green flag run bored ESPN, which bored the viewers at home.
ESPN & the drivers woke up and made the final 60 laps fun to watch. ESPN covered Jeff Gordon's problems and the finish of the race nicely. The post-race had plenty of interviews.
- October 9, 2011 at 5:40 PM
- Jonathan said...
Yeah JD its a damn SHAME and im getting tired of this S*#T from ESPN! Whats going on here yesterdays Nationwide race was awsome all around great everything, then we get to today and ESPN gives us a crap broadcast from the same race track! Why is this??????? Whats the reason behind this? It just dosent make any logical sense...
- October 9, 2011 at 6:21 PM
- AncientRacer said...
I'll only add I found the race boring mostly (if I am honest with myself) because it was a domination race with the wrong person dominating.
I know this is a true statement because I am never bored when KYBU dominates a race.
Maybe someone will park Weasley as KYBU did to someone in Homestead last year with his superb sacrifice block that ended Kyle's season in a literal ball of flame.
I should not wish for such things. I should be more sportsman like. I should. Maybe I will be able to tomorrow. Not today. Cannot be that way today.
- October 9, 2011 at 6:27 PM
- Tim S. said...
Based on the live blog from Saturday, I regretted missing the race. Based on the live blog from Sunday, I am thrilled that I did not even turn on my TV.
- October 9, 2011 at 6:52 PM
- saltsburgtrojanfan said...
Does ESPN realize that they will continue to lose viewers if they continue their horrid coverage.
- October 9, 2011 at 6:55 PM
- sue said...
Was laughing today as the bspn talking points must have been Jimmie, Jimmie and more Jimmie. From the gushing during the prerace to throughout the race everything was Jimmie Jimmie and more Jimmie. BSPN must have loved the outcome. Unfortunately with the domination by
5 time many of us turned the station.
- October 9, 2011 at 7:02 PM
- Anonymous said...
Nothing new with the Espn coverage today. Really a boring race. It would have stunk to high heaven if it weren't for the phony cautions. Brad,Rusty and Nicole are only good for 'bathroom breaks' for Andy and DJ. Just terrible reporting lap times and 2 vs 4 tire change for the key players throughout the race. Don't expect anything better for the remaining races. Will probably get even worse with a lot of overkill.
- October 9, 2011 at 7:15 PM
- GinaV24 said...
boring race, boring coverage, boring chase. Oh look the 48 was the story today. yawn.
- October 9, 2011 at 7:21 PM
- SD80MAC said...
BORRRRing!!! I thought for a while I was watching an F1 follow-the-leader race. Too few lead changes and just a tiny bit more action behind the leaders. Alan Bestwick, Andy Petree and Nicole Briscoe helped by providing what I thought was pretty good commentary on a lackluster race.
The highlight of the day for me was a pre-race tweet from Pete Pistone saying there was a possibility of more short track races being added to the NCWTS schedule.
- October 9, 2011 at 8:00 PM
- Roland said...
The race was boring, the coverage lacked enough energy to keep me involved. I spaced out and spent the whole race on the laptop not paying attention. They say Carl Edwards had a big comeback, hell I didnt even know he was behind. It was just an dismal race.
Since I didnt pay attention to the coverage much, youd think I wouldnt have much to complain about. Wrong. Theres a few for sure. Jamie Little is terrible at interviews. And yes I know the victory lane microphone problem aint her fault. Every interview she does makes me cringe cause #1 she repeats her questions and #2 her questions are silly and #3 she makes lots of factual errors.
I mentioned it during the Nationwide race, but song choices for the buffer music going to break is atrocious. They even played some weird techno/pop stuff today. Lunacy.
And speaking of breaks there was a crap ton in the 2nd half of the race. They were in nonstop during green flag pit stops and several cautions. We spent half the second half in nonstop. Ridicoulous.
I enjoy Charlotte (despite its hideous yellow walls) so Ill be back next week ready to go.
- October 9, 2011 at 8:15 PM
- John in Chico said...
Had our former pit crew over at the house today with the race on the big 55" and Race buddy on another monitor. Never paid attention to the race until the 24 went up in somke.
Caught the last two laps and got what we needed and reading the comments we didn't miss a thing.
We watched the Saturdays race(s) and the Jekyll and Hyde thing raised it's ugly head and instead of broadcasting a race today we got Hyper-tight shots that are totally unrelated and do nothing to tell the stroy. I thought that's what the show is about, tell the story.
- October 9, 2011 at 9:18 PM
- sbaker17 said...
Tim S. said...
Based on the live blog from Saturday, I regretted missing the race. Based on the live blog from Sunday, I am thrilled that I did not even turn on my TV.
October 9, 2011 6:52 PM
Apparently the "S" is short for Smart
- October 9, 2011 at 11:18 PM
- Garry said...
I wish NASCAR wouldn't have a bye week this late in the season. What's that? Oh. I was just informed that NASCAR did have a race yesterday. I tought I was watching paint dry.....
- October 10, 2011 at 8:43 AM
- Michael Stoffel said...
Sunshine and 75 on an October Sunday afternoon? Sorry, NASCAR at Kansas loses that one.
I can't imagine anyone really bothering with watching, unless you're a shut-in.
- October 10, 2011 at 10:27 AM
- MRM4 said...
Buschseries61 is dead on. The race was boring and ESPN was bored with it. Also, another fail for having Carl Edwards in the infield studio after the race when he was basically a non-factor all day.
- October 10, 2011 at 10:45 AM
- Anonymous said...
ESPN coverage makes me miss Eli Gold and Glenn Jarrett on the old TNT network.
- October 10, 2011 at 12:51 PM
- Ziggy said...
I watched the 1st 50 laps, turned down the sound for the next 200 laps, read the newspaper, then watched the last 17 laps. A typical cookie-cutter yawner with very little action.
Maybe they can bring in Bill Murray to add additional color to the commentary. At least he has experience in "Ground Hog Day" scenarios.
- October 10, 2011 at 3:50 PM
- Anonymous said...
It was a really boring race. I got tired of hearing about JJ all day and it seemed like AB was zeroed in on JG and talked about him constantly. Most of the drivers don't know what real racing is and the media really doesn't either, it seems. Both drivers and announcers get mad and say so and so should or should have moved over. Heck, when would a real racer do that? There were a lot of drivers in the show that were never shown or mentioned. Even the scroll at top cut them off sometimes and that is very annoying. I totally dislike this time of year for watching whereas most of the year I can tolerate it.
- October 10, 2011 at 4:40 PM
- Fed UP said...
Lets say that yesterday was a very productive day. I painted while listening to the tv occassionaly. IMO, Kansas and the rest of the tracks to come, except Talledega and Martinsville suffer from the same fate...boring, long races with fuel mileage the usual outcome.
I feel for bad for ESPN, I do...how can you make follow the leader exciting?
- October 10, 2011 at 5:10 PM
- Sally said...
It really is puzzling how ESPN can cover the NNS race on Saturday and do such a fantastic job, then fall flat on their race on Sunday. By just covering the racing as it happened on Saturday, the kept me informed and interested the entire race. On Sunday, it was all about the 'chase', the few teams they chose to cover, and tight shots of individual cars hat do nothing to keep my interest in the race. It's hard to believe that the same network produced both programs.
- October 10, 2011 at 5:51 PM
- fbu1 said...
After a few decades of being a race fan, I've sort of returned to my own roots. In the bad old days, one had to wait for the next issue of Road & Track to see if Dan Gurney did well or if Phil Hill finished ahead of Stirling Moss. My local newspapers didn't consider racing to be a sport worthy of coverage.
While still a race fan, I decided last spring that I had better things to do than schedule my life around racing broadcasts, especially when the coverage was so bad. I grew tired of the amped up hype and the forced enthusiasm of the various pre-race shows. Actual sports journalism is trumped by sponsor or network plugs and softball interviews. With the exception of Speed, the actual race coverage is consistently awful. IMHO, I consider the chase to be an artificial construct that compliments ESPN's insistence on following a pre-determined script So, I have not watched a whole race since April.
Perhaps all of the blather appeals to the desired under thirty demographic, but I find the lack of consistently good information to be shameful, especially when the networks have so many techie toys to play with. So, rather than allowing myself to get riled up, I stopped watching everything but the last few laps of the race. I glance at the live leaderboard on the 'net to keep track of the laps and tune into the race with 20 - 30 laps to go. Within the time frame of the descending laps, I congratulate myself for skipping the poor coverage.
If there was something interesting that I may have missed, I check my favorite racing sites, here and Jayski, to be informed. Shades of waiting for the Road & Track report.
- October 10, 2011 at 6:49 PM
- old97fan said...
The race was boring except for restarts. Not ESPn's fault. The tight shots were back making it more boring. ESPN's fault Unlike previous races where others led and weren't on camera due to lack of action, we had a Hendrick driver out front so the camera stayed on the leader lap after lap. ESPN's fault and hypocrisy. Been watching racing since 1970 when I was a boy, both open wheel and Nascar on those rare occasions that it was replayed on one of the sports programs. Quit watching F1 about mid 90's. Quit watching Indy Car (except Indy 500) about the time of the CART lunacy. And after 40 years am about to follow a lot of my friends and quit watching Nascar. If something doesn't change with Nascar AND the coverage, I'm going to be out of here.
- October 10, 2011 at 8:05 PM
- fsbk9 said...
Who is doing the pre-race commercial that was talking about good and great? I loved the comment that good celebrates with champagne and great drinks champagne like coffee. I saw a similar commercial last week before the race. The guy is sitting in the stands and takes off his sunglasses as he delivers his commentary. I need a copy of the commercial for a presentation. Can anyine help me out?
- October 10, 2011 at 9:11 PM
- Kenn Fong said...
I only saw about 90 seconds of Sunday's Chase race, and from your comments and those of the Planeteers, I didn't miss much. Looks like the Stepford Driver is on track (hee hee) to win another Championship. Ho Hum. Watching paint dry is more exciting than listening to the Stepford Driver in his carefully scripted uncontroversial comments spoken in monotone.
Between the baseball playoffs and the NFL, I've got lots to occupy my time.
West Coast Kenny
Alameda, California
- October 10, 2011 at 10:15 PM
- Daly Planet Editor said...
fsbk9, that is actor Ron Perlman.
- October 10, 2011 at 11:46 PM
- Jake said...
I am a HUGE Jimmie Johnson fan and I love the fact that he has dominated the series for 5 years.... BUT the chase is extremely boring to watch on TV. If changes are not made to the chase format I will not watch next year. JJ will probably win 6 in a row but it's not fun to watch anymore.
- October 11, 2011 at 12:12 AM
- KoHoSo said...
So many excellent and insightful comments above...I really cannot add to them as far as pointing out the foibles of what was presented to us.
All I will say is that I was really going to try to make it through all of the 2011 Cup races before deciding if NASCAR was worth my time anymore after 41 years of being a devoted fan. After what I saw at Kansas, I'll be lucky if this deteriorating love affair makes it past Martinsville.
- October 11, 2011 at 3:14 AM
- Anonymous said...
I still keep up with nascar, but quit watching the races on espn due to the sorrow camera work. I know this has been said over and over, but who goes to a race and watches just one or two cars through binoculers? espn will have to produce a season of good races before I would trust them enough with my time again. nascar - I still hate your playoff, cookie cutter gas milage tracks, and car of trash. JD, love this site - thanks. MC
- October 11, 2011 at 5:19 AM
- Anonymous said...
- This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
- October 11, 2011 at 5:23 AM
- Vicky D said...
This race once laps in and when the cars strung out got boring it was hard on the guys in the booth since not much was going on. I also have enjoyed AP I think DJ needs a pick me up sometimes. AP mentions pit stops and whether he thinks 2 or 4 tires will work better. Maybe Charlotte will be a more exciting race and higher viewership.
- October 11, 2011 at 6:57 AM
- Stick with the Biff said...
if Ron Perlman had more of a 'leading man' face, everyone would know his name; heck of an actor. He wouldn't be in some TV show about a motorcycle gang.
anyways...even though it's not a ratings dip, it does look really sad. Of course, Kansas is nearly as boring as Cali so that doesn't help.
Kenny, you crack me up. Stepford Driver.
- October 11, 2011 at 8:16 AM
- Garry said...
IMO, Kansas should NEVER have had a second date, and I'll go another step further: They should NEVER have any dates. Mile and a half tracks were built by the sponsors. If a camera follows a car around the track, it's essentially a 45 to 50 second commercial for them. Yawn. But there's a casino! Wow! That improved the racing! Clowns....
- October 11, 2011 at 8:57 AM
- Buschseries61 said...
Sad ratings news JD. ABC/ESPN went from about 6 million viewers every week in the 2008 Chase to barely 4 million a week now in the 2011 Chase. The network lost two million viewers in three years.
It's not all ESPN's fault. For the second season in a row, ESPN lost nearly a million viewers once the Chase began. 4 races into the Chase, I have not felt the fun or intensity that NASCAR thought the Chase would provide.
I'm sure another round of finger pointing should start soon.
- October 11, 2011 at 9:25 AM
- Anonymous said...
I am noticing that many HDTV television broadcast cameras have a remote pan, tilt and zoom feature via RS-232 cable and servo motor. My questions are: Is this a feature that did not exist/was not used in the pre-HDTV era? Has control of the zoom moved from the cameraman to the production truck? Is this to blame for the irresponsible use of the camera zoom feature during NASCAR telecasts?
- October 11, 2011 at 9:26 AM
- OSBORNK said...
The race looked more like a tire test or a practice session than a race. If thre had not been the fake debris cautions, I think JJ would have lapped the field. Does anyone else wonder how a car can be so vastly superior to every other car in the field and still be legal?
- October 11, 2011 at 9:31 AM
- bowlalpo said...
This will make me sound like I watch the races for the wrong reasons, but one of the "problems" is that the cars and tires are manufactured too well. Very few engine failures (sorry Jeff) and very few wrecks, almost no multi-car crashes this season. Not that I want to see them, and that does speak to the talent of the drivers. When they get it a little sideways, they usually straighten it out.
The lack of attrition by the leaders is augmented by the start-and-parks. I watched and listened to many races four years ago and earlier where the announcers would be quick to state that "all 43 cars that started this race are still on-track." Those extra 7 or 8 cars that the leaders don't have to negotiate provide a much clearer track.
Finally, I sense a feeling of "unionization" of the chase drivers as they do all they can to NOT rub while they race. Maybe I'm seeing it all wrong, or maybe that's the only thing TV is showing me.
The chase points battle is close, but it isn't great, unlike the Camping World Truck Series, where the points battle is both close and great.
For NSCS, like many, I'm waiting for Talladega and Martinsville to see if what I call this "pseudo-intensity" will continue.
- October 11, 2011 at 9:45 AM
- Anonymous said...
Just wanted to come & say I've been making full use of the online NASCAR presence & NOT regular TV, so far this Chase I've only used RaceBuddy, twitter & WatchESPN to follow live action. I also subscribe to Trackpass. For me, RaceBuddy is THE BEST by far & away, I really love "riding" with the cars & seeing a whole race from that perspective right through Victory Lane when a featured driver wins!! Maybe it's the novelty which I'm sure will wear off but not yet! From what I've seen of the ESPN telecast via online, I feel for you who don't do these other options. I too am BAFFLED AS **** that the NNS race presentation is good & the Cup bad.
- October 11, 2011 at 12:19 PM
- glenc1 said...
I hesitate to say this, but I think Bowlalpo has a point. They've become too good. I thought they had talked about making tires that wear more...obviously it's a fine line, we don't want another Brickyard fiasco. I don't care so much about seeing drivers wrecking each other, but let's face it, it does create a bit more action when they do. And that also goes to having so many wide 1 1/2 to 2 mile tracks that have so much room it's easier to stay away from each other. More short tracking would fix that, but I'm not holding my breath. I don't mind fuel mileage so much--to be honest, I think it's kind of exciting waiting to see who runs out of gas, but it gets old after so many. I expected the 'boom' to wear off, but I thought it would 'level off', not keep dropping. I don't think TV coverage is helping. There aren't many who seem to think that showing close ups of a couple of cars at a time is a good thing. ESPN has fixed a lot of the coverage issues, but that is still bad. And I really think Rusty & Brad are completely superfluous.
I haven't been blogging much during races since I've been multitasking with football. But I don't think much has changed.
- October 11, 2011 at 3:37 PM
- Zetona said...
I agree entirely with Bowlalpo, and would like to add that the current car compounds the tire wear and start-and-park issues with its aero push, which keeps the cars some distance apart, and its unflappability: it is much more difficult to spin one of these cars out than the old-model cars, which you could spin out with nothing less than a tap from behind or having a car to your outside. Being hard to spin out is a GOOD THING, but it's gone too far. Combined with the lack of tire wear, it means very few cars even get noticeably loose on their own, even on worn tires, let alone spin out and cause a caution. And until we can figure out an aero package that eliminates aero push, more cautions are probably the best way to spice up the racing.
As for the TV ratings, they're going up, which is great. I feel like this season got a lot of momentum from its first half, with great stories like first-time winners, wild finishes and Junior's resurgence. I hope the fan interest doesn't dwindle because of these boring 1.5-miler races, and I really hope someone other than Jimmie wins the championship and provides a different storyline to keep everyone excited during the offseason.
- October 11, 2011 at 5:27 PM
- Jonathan said...
Great to hear the ratings are up! Wonder how this Saturday night on ABC will do! Going to be interesting
I do wonder how much better that ratings would be if the broadcast was actually good. The Kansas race sucked in terms of coverage
- October 11, 2011 at 5:51 PM
- Jonathan said...
Oh and Zetona the 1.5 mile tracks do provide great racing... the thing is ESPN seems to not want to show us that when it comes to the Sprint Cup. Zetona did you get to watch Saturdays Nationwide race from Kansas the same 1.5 mile track they raced on Sunday?
Well the race was awsome from start to finish... But they were showing the great battles all throughout the field and it was great. On sunday however it was back to the hyper tight camera work and that will make any race boring I dont care what track there on.
In my book there is not one "boring" race on the schedule... Yeah I may like some more than others but when you put 43 Nascar cars on any size track im going to be interested thats all
- October 11, 2011 at 5:58 PM
- AncientRacer said...
What glenc1 offered about the drivers having become "too good" is interesting, but allow me to twist the light just a bit to add, I think, another aspect.
The Cup drivers are good. There is no question about it. As a group they are the best drivers our sport has ever had and individually they are better than nearly any of the (stock car or truck) drivers out there. If you want objective proof of that look at what happens when KYBU or Harvick or Edwards or Bwad, etc. go "slumming" (no whacks, please that's a joke) in the other series.
But the drivers must be taken in their own time frame. The Grand National, or Winston, or whatever top series drivers have always been the best of their respective day. Over a half century of watching them has taught me at least this fact.
What I think is wrong is the fetish NASCAR has with parity. Identical cars, highly restrictive rules, etc. all of which leads to homognenization and kills innovation. Gone are the days of Junior Johnson's "secret" engine. Nowadays Junior would be sitting on indefinite suspension permanently and so would a bunch of other guys from the day.
In my perfect world "boys have at it" would encompass the mechanics of the sport as well as the on-track part and it would begin with running the stock sheet metal of the model you are driving. If that is not as areo as possible, tough. Figure something out. Same with engines, drive trains or whatever. Let stock cars be stock cars.
My Daddy who was in the rocket business fell in love with NASCAR because he fell in love with the geniuses like Junior Johnson. He used to say that NASCAR was like what he and his colleagues did. When the needed to invent something for spaceflight they went and invented it. Like teflon, for example. And if it was useful it found its way into society in general. The same thing used to bhe true of stock cars. The things the "good ole boys" would invent to win races had a way of finding their way into the cars we drive --and the saying "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" had meaning.
This applies to the manufacturers, too. I think of the days when Mopar kept coming up with ever more innovative power plants. Then they made them stop. Would we, I wonder, even have hemis if not for Stck Car racing? Maybe or maybe not.
I sometimes, like now, sit and wonder, just what Chad Knaus might come up with if he were allowed to, but as it stands I will never know. "Oh! No!" the parity bugs will say. "It would be worse than now! He would win all the time forever!" Not so. Voldemort is, in my mind, dang close to being a genius of the old school, but his stuff would get copied and improved upon. There is always someone out there younger and faster as the gunfighters said -- and from that kind of innovation would come, I believe, better racing -- and I personally would benefit as some of those innovations eventually found their way to my car.
- October 12, 2011 at 10:40 AM
- glenc1 said...
.... that was a very good analysis, AR, but I'm just afraid the horse is out of the barn and he's not going back in.
I do find it interesting though--people who compare the NFL & MLB and NASCAR. I've actually heard racing analysts question why people dislike the 48 team when they loved the domination of the Yankees or the Patriots...and I thought, 'huh?' I *hated* those teams, lol. I don't like one team winning all the time; I've just always been a fan of the underdog.
But Chad & the 48 team are doing exactly what they're supposed to do, and yes, I agree, they are masters at manipulating the parity to their advantage. I guess I just gave up on the idea of 'stock cars' long ago...I just can't see them every going back. I would like to see, and many have mentioned this, NASCAR loosen up the reins on some areas to allow for creativity. Less structure on the templates, perhaps.
BTW...there are *indeed* 'boring' races, Jonathan, not necessarily blaming the tracks. Perhaps before your time, but back in 1999 Dale Jarrett won a race at Michigan from the pole. I think maybe there were no cautions, or minimal ones. And even *Dale* (probably much to the horror of NASCAR) said in VL that he knew it probably wasn't very exciting for the fans. If the driver recognizes the occasional boring race, so can we. Sometimes it isn't just the bad camera work. I personally expect this, just as there are boring games in other sports. Not every one is going to be a barn burner. I just think it's wrong to completely ignore the possibility.
- October 12, 2011 at 2:00 PM
- Garry said...
I think NASCAR inflated the numbers to justify having races at Yawnsas Speedway.
- October 12, 2011 at 2:15 PM
- Anonymous said...
I believe Mad Mikie's spin on the numbers is a lot more accurate of what is going on in the live of nascar. bzf does not have a clue. Good thing he was born into it.
I am with AR all the way. MC
- October 12, 2011 at 6:08 PM
- robbiejr said...
I wish someone would find out why TV viewership is up this year, especially in the face of the NFL. Somewhere, there's got to be a reason for this. And please, don't go to NASCAR or Brian France for an explanation. I'd rather here it from other sources. Think that's possible, Mr, Daly?
- October 13, 2011 at 10:31 AM


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Thursday, September 18, 2014
Meeneghans in Mayo
Finding my first Irish census record for my mother's family has brought my attention back to that branch of my family. We are fortunate that my great-grandparents' Irish homeland was known by family lore. "Granny" came from Mullaghroe on the Mullet peninsula in western Mayo (God help us), as she always modified it. In telling what I have learned about my grandmother, Sarah Meeneghan, and her older sister, Mary, in early posts I pulled together much of what I know about the family. The digitized 1911 Irish census has added Irish names to my data base.
My great-grandfather, Dominick Meeneghan, emigrated from Ireland and married in Wheeling. WV in January of 1887. The marriage record lists his parents: William Meeneghan and Mary Riley. There is some evidence that he had followed his bride, Ellen Broderick, who may have come to work as a domestic. A woman I believe to be her sister Margaret was working in a household across the river in Ohio. The couple moved north to Springfield, NY where their first child, Mary, was born in October of that year.
"Cousins" William and Hannah Meeneghan were already established in Springfield. What was their relationship? They must have paved the way for Dominick and enticed him to settle in rural New York. The Meeneghan name is uncommon enough in the US that I can identify all but one or two of those currently in on-line phone directories.
I had no other information beyond the parents' names until I found an April 1906 obituary that lists a Mary Meeneghan as Dominick's sister. It also mentions a "sister in the west." The 1900 census lists her as a servant in the household of William Festus Morgan in Cooperstown.
Another researcher had passed along an Irish birth record from LDS microfilm that lists a daughter, Sarah, to William and Mary in Manraghory. That gives Dominick two sisters, both of whom have namesakes in his family.
This census record for Binghamstown, on the Mullet peninsula, fills out the family and adds several more siblings.
Combining these individuals we can construct what we know of the family unit.
William, b 1829
Mary b. 1835
William b. 1844 (not possible to be the child of William and Mary)
Dominick b. 1857 (Mary was 22)
Mary b. 1860
Sarah b. 1861 (was she the sister 'in the west?')
Catherine b. 1865
Margaret b. 1871
James b. 1874
Anne b. 1881 (Mary was 46)
Certainly, there could be additional children who had left home by 1911. Gaps of more than 2 years could also indicate early deaths. Could there be another William who was the eldest? Naming convention would be to name sons after the grandparents before taking the father's name.
The Irish are not known for being imaginative with family names, and the names of Dominick's children mirror his birth family: Mary, Sarah, Ellen, William, twins Katherine and Anne, Margaret, and John were his children.
The next census schedule indicates that they owned their home, which was called one room, with two windows on the front. It was solidly built of stone, brick or concrete, with a roof of wood or thatch.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Monday, July 26, 2010
stay tuned
I've had a busy crafting weekend but can't post as everything is for my Not so secret sister...so you all will have to wait until she gets her goodies! So stay tuned.
Posted by Christina at 9:26 PM 3 comments: Links to this post
Monday, July 12, 2010
I'm so loved.
Wow I'm feeling the LOVE. I just got another award from Jean over at http://jeanscraftycorner.blogspot.com/ if you've never seen her blog make sure you check it out she's very creative.
I am supposed to list 7 things that I like with this award, so here goes:
1) I love to scrapbook and craft!
2) I love going to the drive-ins with my DH.
3) I like to bake for my co-workers.
4) I love my 2 pitbulls. They make me smile and laugh every day.
5) I like white mocha lattes from starbucks.
6) I love watching true blood and Dexter.
7) I LOVE Ice cream! its the one thing I couldn't live without.
I am going to pass this on to a few blogs that I visit frequently. Be sure to check them out for great projects and ideas.
Posted by Christina at 7:08 PM 3 comments: Links to this post
Labels: Award
Saturday, July 3, 2010
More scrap cards for cards for soldiers.
Here are the last of the 75 cards I made for cards with soldiers. I'm loving this stamp set from Stampin up!
Posted by Christina at 12:01 AM 9 comments: Links to this post
Labels: cards for soldiers, Scrap cards, stampin up
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The Commission for Agriculture invited on October 16 & 17 for a second time to the World Food Day Fair, a very popular event since last year which nobody wanted to miss......as several tombolas took place where pigs or cattle could be won for a tiny sum of Rs 10 invested in a ticket...So first pigs on their way...This bull was neither on sale nor a price, just showing off a bit how beautiful a bull can be in Rodrigues...And here the plants...this was a stunner already last year and prooved to be another one this year, for very little money one could purchase plants, ranging from banana or even letchie trees to the more handy endemic plants as e.g. 'Bois de Fer, probably everyone went home with some plants in his arms...But where is the food you might ask yourself...Here it comes...traditional and yummie as always, several stalls offered nice varieties of local food...
More pics you will find here in the album called Days in October- Oktobertage in Rodrigues/engl. & germ.
Photo credits: James Castel/RRA (3,4,5)
Samstag, 25. Oktober 2008
World Food Day in Rodrigues
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It's Cinco de Mayo, but with no alcohol and lots of glutinous rice. It is the fifth day of the fifth month on the Lunar calendar, and you know what that means: eating zhong and watching dragon boat races. But because I am far away from my family, I totally forgot about the holiday until my friend in Tanzania was telling me about how he would like a zhong right now. You can eat zhongs year round, but it is something quite particular to crave, so I figured it must have been tuen ng jit.
|A wrapped zhong, not in any particularly traditional shape
So, now that I've used the word multiple times, what is a zhong? Known as zong zi in Mandarin, zhongs are steamed glutinous rice balls wrapped in bamboo leaf. My family is Cantonese, so I am used to seeing them in tetrahedrals (yay organic chemistry), but apparently northerners wrap their's in long cone shapes. So why is this food purposely eaten on this holiday? Well, here's the story that I remember my mom telling me when I was a kid.
Back in the Chu Dynasty during the Warring States Period, China was in turmoil. Qu Yuan was a high ranking official who served his people justly, but because the emperor ignored his advice, this detrimentally affected the citizens of the kingdom. Out of despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the river on the fifth day of the fifth month. But because he was so popular among the local people, they wanted to retrieve his body and provide him with a proper burial. Therefore the men paddled out into the water, banging on drums and making noise to scare away the fish. The women wrapped rice in bamboo leaves and dumped them into the river, so that the fish would feed on the rice instead of Qu Yuan's body. So there you have the origins of zhong, dragon boating, and the festival.
And that is the story that I grew up listening to every fifth of the lunar fifth while eating a kan shui zhong (alkaline rice dumpling) or a ham yuk zhong (salted pork rice). There are many types out there, and everyone makes them differently. Generally speaking, kan shui zhong are glutinous rice prepared with alkaline water filled with red bean paste. The alkaline treatment causes the rice to turn a translucent brown color (Why? Maybe I'll learn during the acid/bases orgo lecture). Because it does not have much taste, I grew up learning to lightly dip it in raw sugar with each bite. I'm not a huge fan of red bean, but I do enjoy the plain portions of kan shui zhong. Ham yuk zhong are its savory counterparts, which my friend Kevin succinctly summarizes: "meat is the best. With a drizz of soy sauce. The meat has to be fatty so the oil goes into the rice.That's my evaluation of the whole situation." My Chiu Chow grandmother wraps her own ham yuk zhongs, which she generously stuffs with fatty pork, salty egg yolks, and peanuts. I completely agree with Kevin, because I am just craving the taste of soy sauce as I typed that. Though, my dad still grabs for the sugar. There are just some childhood habits you can't break.
So whatever story you grew up hearing, or if this is your first time ever hearing of such a strange holiday, just make sure you get to eat some zhong tonight!
|Kan shui zhong, made with alkaline water
|Red bean paste filling


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Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
|Model & Actress: Naiia
|Natural Make-up: Naiia is wearing concealer, foundation, eye shadow, eyebrow liner, lipstick, blush, contour, mascara.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Recent Photos
Here is a sneak preview of some of my recent photoshoots.
|VJ Create Change: make-up & face painting by April-Anna.
Professional photos coming soon.
|Make-up by April-Anna
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, December 27, 2010
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What to do about oil? First it went from $60 to $80 a barrel, then from $80 to $100 and now to $120. Perhaps we can persuade OPEC to raise production, as some senators suggest; but this seems unlikely. The truth is that we're almost powerless to influence today's prices. We are because we didn't take sensible actions 10 or 20 years ago. If we persist, we will be even worse off in a decade or two. The first thing to do: Start drilling.Instead of throwing money down the mass production of bio-fuel drain (and therefore increasing food prices), Congress should start to open some of these oil production areas that can ease the price of oil.
It may surprise Americans to discover that the United States is the third-largest oil producer, behind Saudi Arabia and Russia. We could be producing more, but Congress has put large areas of potential supply off-limits. These include the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and parts of Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. By government estimates, these areas may contain 25 billion to 30 billion barrels of oil (against about 30 billion barrels of proven U.S. reserves today) and 80 trillion cubic feet or more of natural gas (compared with about 200 tcf of proven reserves).
What keeps these areas closed are exaggerated environmental fears, strong prejudice against oil companies and sheer stupidity. Americans favor both "energy independence" and cheap fuel. They deplore imports -- who wants to pay foreigners? -- but oppose more production in the United States. Got it? The result is a "no-pain energy agenda that sounds appealing but has no basis in reality," writes Robert Bryce in "Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of 'Energy Independence.' "
Read the whole thing.


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Vegan Black Forest Cake
We didn't have any birthday candles, so I used sparklers- which I think look better !I tried a piece and it was sooo rich, like a chocolate fudge cake!
Today we've made Vegan Spiced Ginger Cookies. I was thinking that they might be nice stuck together with some of the leftover buttercreme filling from the cake :)
The spicy flavour is nice especially at this time of year when the weather is starting to get chilly.


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1. What's your favorite room in the house?
Our bedroom. A little birdy once told me "nothing good happens with a television in the bedroom," and I'd have to say that birdy was indeed a wise one. We don't have a TV in ours, so the bedroom is a quiet space away from all the distractions of life. It's probably the only room in the house with photos displayed, which makes for a cozy atmosphere. I love how I get to leave everything behind and have sweet conversations every night before bed, and wake up to a warm kiss every morning. It's a "goodnight, I love you"..."good morning, I love you"...kind of space.
2. Do you subscribe to any magazines or other periodicals?
Not actively. I receive regular publications via mail from the Child Life Council, the Diocese of Shreveport, Louisiana Baptist Children's Home, and boring stuff like insurance companies. Fun (unrelated) fact: I started collecting bulletins from churches I attend. It's like a scrapbook of places I've traveled - one I hope will become quite thick over the years.
|4 states pictured, though there were many more before I started collecting.
3. How do you feel about the sign of peace in Mass? Enriching? Awkward? Overdone? Just right? Some combination of the above?
Awkward is an understatement. Who do I turn to first (husband, duh) - left, right, front, back? Then, GROSS. What if the person behind me just sneezed? What if I picked a scab on my arm during the homily? ...After Mass...Move out the way people, I need my hand sanitizer!
4. What is your least favorite sound?
Hands down - ALARM CLOCKS!! I cannot stand them!!! How do I wake up, you ask? My phone alarm is set to vibrate and you can bet the second it goes off I'm pressing the button to silence it. Don't even get me started on all those times I'm stuck in a room with other people who sleep through their alarms!
5. What was your favorite TV show (or shows) growing up?
Full House!! Mary-Kate and Ashley were my BFFs, of course! (Okay, wishful thinking.) Really though, anything on TGIF...Boy Meets World, Saved By the Bell, Step By Step, etc. Side note: Have you been watching Girl Meets World? We have...it's the bomb diggity. You should check it out.
Honestly...pretty much anything on TLC. I'm a sucker for 19 Kids and Counting, Sister Wives, The Little Couple, Breaking Amish, Four Weddings, and Dance Moms (ok, I know that's on Lifetime but it may as well be on the TLC lineup). Hate me if you want to, but I have seen all but one of the first season of Orange is the New Black.
Together, Alex and I are watching Big Brother, Duck Dynasty, and the never-ending marathon of One Tree Hill (9 seasons takes forever). We started watching House of Cards but it's on the back-burner until we get through "Trees." I'm convinced that one day we'll get around to watching L.O.S.T., as well.
...Okay we watch way too much TV...we really need to make some friends (or babies, that works too).
Hey, Jen and Amy...tag - you're it! Play along and add your post to Kendra's list before the week is out!
Have a great one, folks.


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Friday, May 17, 2013
The Office - series finale
I had my issues with The Office and gave up watching 2 seasons ago but there was no way I was going to miss the finale. I'm so glad I didn't. I think what I liked most about it was that even though some situations had changed, the characters still stayed true to themselves. The finale was sweet, funny and awkward just as the show had always been. Plus the final episode had just the right amount of nostalgia, while also giving us an idea of where these beloved characters were headed. I laughed, I cried, I wanted to go back and see what I had missed in the past 2 years.
Well done, folks. And thank you!
Labels: TV
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text: Well thses are some of the pages from a quick gift I whipped together this weekend. It was so easy all you need is some supplies and you can do the same. I used Maya Road products of course. My favorite quick and easy base is the 4x4 binder album. You can make a lot with a little, their mini chipboaed pieces are great for this size and they have so many to choose from so you can do any theme. Me I chose Christmas memories. The little pieces are very easy to cover with the mist and it dries very quick. I used the acrylic tags and glued vintage pictures from my etsy site on the back of them for another embelly. Quick simple and a wonderful gift.


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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Mar.16)
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a fun weekly meme that is hosted by Shelia at Book Journey, in which we share what we've read and reviewed and what we plan on reading in the coming week.
Books finished this week:
Books reviewed this week:
Books to finish this week:
- Liar, Temptress, Soldier Spy
- Such a Pretty Face
- The Color Purple
Books to work on this week:
- While We're Far Apart
- Shadow of Night
- A Memory of Violets


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Monday, March 2, 2015
West Ham Utd v. Crystal Palace
18 comments:
Played like 10 men who'd never met before, embarrassing.ReplyDelete
Nice thuggery and quality diving from Palace gave them the game.
The only bright spots were Nene looked good , have high hopes and I was pleased Tenner got a goal. I like him and lets hope he gets some confidence and lets rip like I know he can.
10-11th place finish now looking likely, about right with all the oomph gone.
BFS now 2/1 to go , lets hope they're right
Haven't checked the stats Smitty, but other than Hull (how many Back) it's seems like a good while since we've has a Premiership win. On this form 10th or 11th will be pushing it. Song got it wrong again and I don't know if it's directly related but another no show from Downing too ? Will let Noble off the hook and though Winston did some good work, but 3 goals from set pieces ? All the defence got to take that rap !ReplyDelete
You're right Mr P.Last win was Hull on 18th Jan and before that Leicester on Dec 20th. worse than a donkey ride at Margate on a soggy sunday in September. Palace were bullies and that one that got sent off particularly, but I bet Pardew was licking him all over at the final whistle. Palace got what they wanted and fought for, looked like the Hammers did too.ReplyDelete
He's gone- about 75 more days to go
Looks like Pardew's Bullies may have lost another man Filthy, Jedinak is up for "violent conduct" for the elbow on Sakho. He's on the carpet after a post match 3 man panel declared him out of order - it's a 4 match ban if guilty as he was sent off in November. Trial on Tuesday !ReplyDelete
Jackie Pallo would be so proud.ReplyDelete
About time they did a bit more of this, it's all on vid for everyone to see.
They'll never extend it to diving though.
Copped a "Guilty" and will accept the four match ban. What else is he going to do, they got HDTV footage ?ReplyDelete
So now they are 2 less against Stoke, who can win and go above us. And so it goes.ReplyDelete
Well Smitty, they were 2 less against Southampton earlier today and lost that - but they might have lost that anyway. We'd better pull a "West Ham" and beat the likely Champions Chel$ki - COME ON YOU IRONS !ReplyDelete
I saw the forearm smash last night, very nasty. CC telling a spuds fan on twitter to F off, good for him, but probably lose a couple of weeks wages over it.ReplyDelete
I think it was Mick McManus that was top man with the forearm smash Filthy ( I no longer own a copy of Simon Garfield's excellent book "The Wrestling" or i'd fact check) ? I'm hoping Sakho or one of the Centre Backs can "Johnny Kwango" a couple into the back of the Chel$ki net later today.ReplyDelete
As for Carlton swearing on twitter, fair cop, to be honest I'd like to see it toned down to the ref - You don't see it in Yankee sports for one simple reason it will get you chucked out of the game !
Anyone fancy a Chel$ki prediction?ReplyDelete
Will we put up a fight?
I think we'll go down but only 2-0 or something.
Anyone know anything about a Song bust up after the Palace game?
Well on paper Smitty, it has to be them, but as Jimmy Greaves once said " They don't play on paper, they play on grass" ! We'll nned some hard graft and Lady luck to get anything - COME ON YOU IRONS !ReplyDelete
So Winston signed. I always thought he would, better a star here than a bench at The Arse / SpudsReplyDelete
Maybe they promised him that Sam was gone :)
That's what you get for giving AC a gazillion for bugger all. Everyone wants some, but there's not much left.
Crazy Horses (AKA Shogun) stays and I'm a Happy Hammer Smitty.ReplyDelete
I don't think The Gooners were actually going to come in for him and as Scot Parker could tell you there's no guarantees at Spuds.
good saitch A.PReplyDelete
Embarrassing...lack-lustred..un-performance...for the first time that i can think off i didnt even cheer when Enner scored..didnt think about it just nothing came out....
the Palarse player who elbowed Sakho shouldve got banged away for a couple of months ..if it happened in the street or in the stands he wouldve
Allardyce says the players are m entally and physically drained ..so at the moment they are sunning themselves flintstones style in AbuDhabi (Doo)...freddy freemans
Mentally and Physically strained...2 hrs a day training..pampered by all...free grub..average wage £40,000 p/w mortgage free...are they taking the piss..why did the club have to advertise it...shouldve kept it a low one...people got the hump about this...shouldve sent a couple of coachloads of needy kids to disneyland for a bit of time instead of this...minges
I'm guessing that Mr Tupper would say that you lack "the sophistication" to understand the strain the players have been under Slippery ? I'm certainly not "sophisticated" to understand with only two Premiership wins since Dec 18th he 9in his own humble opinion) is better than Wenger ?ReplyDelete
So ?ReplyDelete
We gonna give the Gooners a game?
Predictions anyone?
I think we'll go down 2-0 or 2-1
Unless Nene gets more than 10 minutes, they've never seen him before and looks like he's a mover & shaker and ready to go so he could be in for a day. E's sofisticatid too!!
I'll have to dig deep for some positive thoughts Smitty, I always feel Napoleon Wenger's got Tupper sussed ! The Chel$ki Saitch is just about to go up, so maybe transfer to that ?ReplyDelete


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The people of Laganes need your generous help.
The affected families need water, food and clothing. We are also gathering funds to help buy those families, whose houses were completely destroyed, building materials, i.e. lumber, plywood/hardiflex, nails, bamboo and nipa.
You may send your help to:
Msgr. Higinio Velarde
Parish Priest/Rector
Shrine of St. Vincent Ferrer (San Vicente Ferrer Parish)
Leganes, Iloilo
Telephone Number:
+63 33 3297894
Email Addresses:
We prefer donations in kind especially clothes, kitchen utensils, and beddings and other necessities inside the house.
3 areas in Iloilo City watched for New Year violence - At least three areas in Iloilo City will be closely watched by authorities to prevent possible violence among some of its residents during the New Year rev...
2 hours ago


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SUPERIOR, Wis. (AP) -- A proposed oil shipping terminal on Lake Superior has been put on hold.
Wisconsin Public Radio reports it means oil tankers won't be sailing from western Lake Superior to the East Coast for now.
The terminal would have shipped crude from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota. Superior Calumet Refinery manager Kollin Schade says the size and cost of an oil terminal means his company needs a refinery on the east coast as a partner. He says nobody has stepped forward with a long-term commitment to make it feasible.
Duluth Port Director Adolph Ojard says he's not surprised. He says he doesn't know if it makes economic sense to move crude oil on the Great Lakes. He says it's more efficient to move it by rail and pipeline.


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one of the biggest changes to marine codex was to finally elevate chapter master calgar to a Lord of war. In addition to his new position, he also gets the buff all ultramarine player have been waiting for. The gauntlets of ultramar (2 power fists with under slung two linked super bolters) have finally lost the unwieldy rule! The means he can finally live up to his true potential.
On the charge he will now get 6, s8, ap2 attacks fighting at i5. This makes him a beast in combat, added to this, he retains eternal warrior, 2+ armour, 4++ save and the ability to just pick his warlord traits.
I have both versions of the calgar, but he rarely gets used. To celebrate the changes, I have decided to revisit my version in articifer armour. I was never really happy with his banner and his base needed some work. I have decided to make a new, better back banner rather than fix the current one. I wanted something more personal, but also had the standing he deserves as the chapter master. Base wise, he needed a 32,m base anyway, so I decided to go for a raised up cork base to give him a bigger stance.
Initially I started with a plastic back banner from the command squad. This was topped with the new standard topper from the new upgrade kit. I added a laural from the terminator kits. I then sculpted some rope to add more regal featuers, to hold this in. Place I used 2 smaller skulls. The loose ends were normally caped off with tassels, however, to reflect his endless war against the tyranid menace, I used a left over claw. With an extra purity seal, the build is done. Paint wise, I went for the star field look I have been using a lot of late. I added the white to enhance the regal look. The central decal is from the legion decal kit. This project failed.
I wrote the above to show the effort I put in, but it really didn't look right, so plan be was much simpler. I stuck a topper from the sternguard kit and painted it. This worked really well and I am really pleased with the outcome. Simples really works some times.
The base is a simple cork build. I keep it clean so as not to distract from the model.
I hope you like my refreshed version of the ultimate space marine. Just for comparison, here is the terminator version. Till next time, see you across the battlefield.


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Thursday, August 14, 2008
2 Sketches 4 You- Sketch 6
Hello Everyone!!
This is the card that I came up with for the 2 Sketches 4 You Challenge today!! It took me a while to figure out what I was going to do, but then...wha la!! I love how this card turned out...all of the bright colors and that awesome recliner....gotta love A Muse stamps!!!! Thanks for looking and have a great Thursday!!
Relax Card (All Materials by SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: A Muse
Ink: Basic Black, Copic Marker (Lipstick Red)
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, American Crafts Designer Paper
Accessories: Ribbon, Coluzzle, Scallop Edge Punch, Oval Punch, Scallop Circle Punch (Marvy Uchida), Paper Snips
Posted by Tenia Nelson at 12:20 PM
7 comments:
- Laura Davis said...
Hey, darling card!!! I hear you are also from Colorado!
Great take on my sketch:)
- August 14, 2008 at 1:09 PM
- dannisdoodles said...
PRECIOUS card, love it!
- August 14, 2008 at 7:39 PM
- Kathryn said...
Cute card -- love the paper -- it's so bright! :)
- August 14, 2008 at 9:43 PM
- Joke said...
What a lovely card and....I need such a chair.
- August 15, 2008 at 9:33 AM
- **Nancy** said...
Cute card! Love the sofa!
- August 15, 2008 at 1:50 PM
Adorable card!! Love the pp!! Thanks for playing along with 2S4Y this week! :)
- August 15, 2008 at 11:42 PM
- Katie said...
Oh this is so cute! I love it!
- August 16, 2008 at 4:53 PM
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Have you ever wondered why there is a rule that says that when you build a fence, the nice part goes toward your neighbor? I'm not sure if this is a real rule – I think it is a rule of courtesy. Nevertheless, when you go to all the work to build a fence, the fancy part faces away from you. Doesn't seem fair, does it?
Fences serve many purposes. They keep things out, and they keep our stuff in.
Love does not act unbecomingly, is not rude, or in the Message, "does not force itself on others". Love understands fences. When my children were very little, I found a mantra that worked: "discipline yourself, or I will have to discipline you for you."
Love understands the importance of self-discipline. Love values the fences that we build in our lives. They keep us in our own space and help keep other people from overwhelming us. When we walk in love, we value other people more than ourselves – kind of like putting the nice side of the fence out, so that we are beautifying other people's lives as well as our own.
Whose life are you beautifying today?
Lord, please help me to add value to other people's lives today. Help me to add beauty, and to recognize the beautiful things in others. Help us each to not be rude or pushy as we walk with people, but to trust that You have our best in mind, and will get us what we need when we need it. As we reach out to others, we also know that you love those we interact with, and are very interested in working in their lives. Help us not to jump fences to fix other people, but to pray and trust You to work mightily in their lives. Help us to walk in love. In Jesus' name, Amen.


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The push for common reading and math standards marks a turning point in a movement to judge U.S. children using one yardstick that reflects expectations set for students in countries around the world at a time of global competition...."This is the beginning of a new day for education in our country," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. "A lot of hard work is ahead of us. But this is a huge step in a direction that would have been unimaginable just a year or two ago."The direction is SOCIALISM (some think Marxism) and thanks to Obama it isn't hard to imagine anymore. I hope all of my Obama supporting homeschooling friends are calling the White House and their Congressman and opposing this. Not that it will make much difference.
First comes the standard, then the test, then the requirement that ALL children are tested to ensure that no child is left "crippled" in the competition for jobs. And just where do you think that leaves homeschoolers? A diploma coming from any school (including a homeschool) that refuses to conform to the national standard and the requisite testing credential is useless.
I'll never understand the outrage at Obama for taking over car companies and banks (all deserved), but nary a peep when he demands national education standards. Are our children's minds less important than our money and the car we drive?
For a more humorous way of looking at the same question, read my post Choice, It's a Beautiful Thing.
Subscribe to SpunkyHomeschool by email.


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Monday, February 28, 2011
holy cow it's Oscars night.
But seriously though, I'm trying to squeeze in every movie that I can watch in my vacant time now but I believe I don't have the hours to watch all of the nominated films for the 83rd Academy Awards. What a shame. I kind of wanted to relate what people were saying about The King's Speech, The Kids Are All Right, Winter's Bone, True Grit or The Fighter.
Buuuutttt... I did get to watch Inception, The Black Swan, 127 Hours, The Social Network and Toy Story 3. Mostly I just focus on watching the films that are nominated for Best Picture because I believe that one brilliant film would sum up and represent the very best of 2010.
I wonder how this will play out during the actual event. I remembered actually relating to why The Hurt Locker won Best Picture in 2009, and how Jamal and Latika won my heart in Slumdog Millionaire on 2008. I wanted to give my predictions for this year but alas, I haven't watched it all. T minus 3 hours and it shall start!
Oh and I've noticed that since 2009, the nominees for Best Picture has climbed up to 10 which is usually just up to 5. Meeehh.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Manga: My Top Five Faves
Its been a busy month for me and I'll try making it up to everyone. Anyway, for this week's post, I'd like to share one of the things I am interested in which is Manga or Japanese comics. I also watch anime but since I have lesser time, I read. I'd like to share with you the top five titles I try to get myself updated with regularly.
|Ryu Sasakura
Written by: Araki Joh
Illustrated by: Kenji Nagatomo
Genre: Slice of Life
It is about a one of a kind bartender (Ryu) who makes the perfect cocktail mixes for his customers. His cocktails are called "glass of the gods" because they are perfect for whatever mood the clients are in.
The manga changed my view about bars and bartenders. In a bar, different stories are told and sometimes a drink can heal old wounds and make bonds that lasts after years.
It also introduces different types of wines and their history. It actually makes you wanna drink the wine that the story talks about.
"I think... what this liquor holds is a prayer" Ryu Sasakura when asked what a bottle of Eau De Vie (Brandy) contains.
4. Skip Beat
|Ryu, Kyoko and Sho
Illustrated by: Nakamura Yoshiki
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Shoujo, Romance
The story is about a girl (Kyoko) who wants to become a star to get revenge on the man who broke her heart.
I really like this manga because Kyoko is a sweet girl at first, martyr and kind but as the story progresses, you get to see the reason why she takes on a stronger personality and still maintain a feminine stand. And also because, she maybe the protagonist but she doesn't get beaten around like some other stories.
"Even if..It's God's will..,
Even if..It's Destiny..
I shall..Destroy it.
Even if....I must go against God" Ren Tsuruga, one of the male protagonist, on making a move on Kyouko.
|Kawai Maria
Written by: Tomori Miyoshi
Illustrated by: Tomori Miyoshi
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Psychological, Romance, Shoujo
She looks like an Angel but every time she has a very sharp tongue and very straightforward. The Manga centers on Kawai Maria. She looks so innocent and fragile but actually she's a girl who is very frank and honest with what she says to the point that it offends other people.
I like the drama in this series because it isn't common. Also, you learn to appreciate the honesty that she shows others and the effort she gives in making friends who accepts her for who she is. Also, the manga makes you contemplate on a lot of things.
"Why doesn't the witch, who can use her magic to transform a shabby girl into someone lovely, cast a spell on herself? The witch does not use the magic on herself because she knows the emptiness that follows when the spell breaks." a quote from the manga.
|Daisuke and Hina
Written by: Kei Kusunoki
Illustrated by: Kei Kusunoki
Genre: seinen, slice of life, drama, psychological
A playboy who falls in love with a girl who seemed to hate men. Sounds cliche right? But the manga is totally not that. Daisuke (male lead) is a playboy who accidentally hears the confession of a classmate (Hinako). Surprised that it was the most quiet and reserved girl in his class, he is intrigued and hides her secret suddenly understanding why she is the way she is.
What I really love about this manga is the depth of the story. The author writes the emotions well and even though you cannot relate with the characters, you can feel the realistic plot that has been woven.
"If you can't have it... you tend to destroy it." a quote from the manga
*note: This manga is already finished
|One Piece Logo
Written by: Eiichiro Oda
Illustrated by: Eiichiro Oda
Genre: action, adventure, comedy, drama, shonen
My favorite Manga ever, One Piece is about a group of interesting individuals gathered together by the main character, Luffy, and their adventures together. It already has about 600 plus chapters and still ongoing.
Because of the many characters this story has, you get to read a lot of stories rolled into one. I like this manga because I like the characters and the inspiring mini stories it has. I also like the fight scenes. It is interesting to witness the different powers of the magic fruits in the story.
Other mangas I also like;
Nana by Ai Yazawa
Fairy Tail by Hiro Mashima
Othello by Satomi Ikezawa
Saturday, February 26, 2011
A Study of Heartbreak
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
I Am Haunted by the Number 23
|23 appears on a TV show
Saturday, February 19, 2011
My Favorite All Time Cartoon
|Popeye and his spinach
For those who haven't been exposed to this awesome cartoon. hehehe
Popeye the Sailor is a fictional hero that becomes strong when eating spinach.It first appeared in some comics, though I was only exposed to it on TV.
Top Five Reasons for liking Popeye;
5. He is Patient
Yup, that he is. It usually takes several taunts from Bluto (the main antagonist) before he fights back and when he fights back, its just one hit that settles it all
Popeye the Sailor: Cooking with Gags
4. He is Kind
He is so kind to a fault. Olive (his love interest in the movie) even demeans him several times and still he loves her. Bluto just asks an apology and he accepts it (even if Bluto's just faking)
3. He's not Perfect
He has speech problems but that doesn't make him bitter. He has a squinty eye but still that doesn't make him lose his self esteem.
2.He's Loyal
He only loves Olive. Hehehe
1. He can give a mean punch
This one's actually my favorite and that's why its number 1. When he punches and wood become chairs, beehives become honey and etc.... I like it when he punches things and it transforms into shaped things. It amuses me. Hehehe
And that's it for Popeye the Sailor Man... Toot-toot!
(I'm not good with these top whatevers... but bear with me :p)
Saturday, February 12, 2011
talking to the theatre
I would love to send sweet kisses to the admins of Experimental Theatre for making me part of this blog. My mind is percolating with thoughts and I would love to write them down here. But first, an appropriate introduction is to be done.
Hi I'm Ching. And the only thing you need to know about me is that I love music and photography. Madz, one of the admins here, has been the most wonderful witness to my obsession of music. Oh those times when we used to belt our lungs out to My Chemical Romance at the back of the bus. The times when we sang with utmost emotions on our faces at the canteen and then air guitar like crazy. There's just something universal about music. It's heroine to my ears.
As for photography, I got no fancy SLR yet, but I do make the most out of my digital camera for now. Yep, that's me in the photo. I gave permission to the wind to play with my hair. I mostly dive on fashion photography and any random stuff I find interesting. I have my own personal blog, The Audacity Effect.
I am currently writing from Scotland but I miss the Philippines very much. I mean come on, there's no place like home. But I'm quite happy that I'm doing things on my own now. There's nothing like reality slapping me on the face.
I guess with an open mind, music on my ears and a camera on one hand, I can conquer anything. Hello lovelies!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
My Top 5 Favorite Animated Full Length Films ^_^
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
My Two Cents' Worth On Some Incoming 2011 Movies
Monday, February 7, 2011
Do it Anyway
At this point, I would like to share some verses written by Mother Teresa.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
You see, life is not about what others think or what others may do to you. Its about how you treat life and build your relationship with God because at the end of the day, its just you.... and God.
This post is dedicated to my duty mates. :-)
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Annoying Things To Do On An Elevator
1) CRACK open your briefcase or handbag, peer Inside and ask "Got enough air in there?"
2) STAND silent and motionless in the corner facing the wall without getting off.
3) WHEN arriving at your floor, grunt and strain to yank the doors open, then act as if you're embarrassed when they open themselves.
4) GREET everyone with a warm handshake and ask him or her to call you Admiral.
5) MEOW occasionally.
6) STARE At another passenger for a while. Then announce in horror: "You're one of THEM" - and back away slowly
7) SAY -DING at each floor.
8) SAY "I wonder what all these do?" And push all the red buttons.
9) MAKE explosion noises when anyone presses a button.
10) STARE, grinning at another passenger for a while, then announce: "I have new socks on."
11) WHEN the elevator is silent, look around and ask: "Is that your beeper?"
12) TRY to make personal calls on the emergency phone.
13) DRAW a little square on the floor with chalk and announce to the other passengers: "This is my personal space."
14) WHEN there's only one other person in the elevator, tap them on the shoulder, then pretend it wasn't you.
15) PUSH the buttons and pretend they give you a shock. Smile, and go back for more.
16) ASK if you can push the button for other people but push the wrong ones.
17) HOLD the doors open and say you're waiting for your friend. After a while, let the doors close and say "Hi Greg, How's your day been?"
18) DROP a pen and wail until someone reaches to help pick it up, then scream: "That's mine!"
19) BRING a camera and take pictures of everyone in the lift.
20) PRETEND you're a flight attendant and review emergency procedures and exits with the Passengers.
21) SWAT at flies that don't exist.
22) CALL out "Group hug" then enforce it.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
(Since It's Valentines Month...) Top 10 Love Songs
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Of People and Onions
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Trivia Time!
Di dahil Pinoy ka, wala kang maibubuga sa mga banyaga.
Pinoy-trivia I've compiled, and info from the information superhighway itself. So, here goes nothin'.
When I was a tot, I used to envy the Orientals for their uncanny abilities to defy the universal laws of Physics and how they'd apply gravity on the jaws of their spectators as they gaze upon purely epic Kung-Fu moves.
But did you know that the roots of Filipino history also has its own set of deadly moves? I'm not talking about the movies that show the sluggish Filipino tribesmen dim-wittingly charging into an enemy with advanced weaponry, heck NO.
I'm talkin' about lightning-fast deathblows, wrist-bending boxing, eye-popping throat-slitting knife-action, ankle-breaking footwork and adrenaline-pumping stick fighting. The art of killing, crafted by none other than our very own Filipino tribesmen.
Government Warning: Filipino Martial Arts is not for the faint-hearted, but who freakin' cares about what the government says anyways?
I'd rather fall out of a plane than to sink off with a ship. Why? Because I can't swim; yet others can. At least when we'd all fall down from the sky, we're all equal – trying our best to fly. Setting jokes aside, according to the Guinness Book of World Records:
The MV Doña Paz was a Philippine-registered passenger ferry that sank after colliding with the MT Vector on December 20, 1987. With a death toll of at most 4,375 people, the collision resulted in the deadliest ferry disaster in history and is widely cited as the worst ever peace-time maritime disaster.
No one listens to warnings anymore, overloading a boat is like pushing its luck to stay afloat.
I guess you've squished some bugs so nicely you've seen their insides spew out like a toothpaste-filled watermelon dropped off a 1083-ft high skyscraper. Now reminisce those gigantic, butt-ugly bugs from Klendathu on Starship Troopers and start asking yourselves this question, "What if they fought back?"
Have no fear, Johnnie Rico is here!
And now I'm guessing you weren't expecting him to be a Kababayan after all, with a matching "WHAT? REALLY?!" monologue. Pinoy si Johnnie Rico, kaya itaas mo na ang baba mo.
Juan "Johnnie" Rico is the fictitious protagonist of Robert A. Heinlein's 1958 science-fiction novel Starship Troopers. Rico is the son of a wealthy Filipino family who joined the Terran Mobile Infantry almost on impulse and over his parents' objections. -Wikipedia-
Resiliency. The ability to spring back from and successfully adapt to adversity.
But did you know that we're also known for our persistence to live and motivation? Traits feared from all across the globe. A trait so frightening that the Americans even designed a gun AGAINST us.
No Image Attached. Gun Too Awesome To Post.
Introducing the 1911 .45 ACP Automatic Pistol, with a stopping power enough to blow away a full-grown adult 3 meters away from where the poor fellow used to stand.
During the same time frame that John Browning was working on many of his 128 patents, a tribe of warriors, the Moro, were giving the U.S. Army a very hard time in the
Those warriors, the Moro, do you know the fighting-style they used? Refer to the first trivia above. They were that scary.


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Welcome to Cooper Memorial!
Cooper is a vibrant community called together to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We join together to praise God through music, prayer, celebration of our joys and the sharing of our
Our doors are open to all who wish to come into a relationship with Jesus as well as those who wish to
spend some quality time with God in His house.
We celebrate our community in praise and service and in fellowship.
Let Us Introduce Ourselves!
We value as a church:
· The Lordship of Jesus Christ
· The Primacy of Scripture
· Each Person as created in the Image of God our Father
· Children as Not just our future but as our present as well
· The Stewardship of God's Creation


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I came across this today... it's a beautiful exhortation from Paul.
Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.Get out there and unveil your face today.
2 Corinthians 3:12-18


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Unlike other states, Michiganians (or Michiganders? Can I get a ruling here?) are apparently viewed as minors. Other grown-up states are allowed access to the full arsenal of holiday explosives. Not us. We are allowed something called "fireworks" but, if those are fireworks, than a Timex with a lap button is as good as a Garmin. I plunked down $9.99 for a sack full of Michigan style holiday cheer. For this $9.99, there was absolutely no hope that I would be horribly burned during ignition. No chance that a bottle would tip at the last second sending a rocket of red, white, and blue trailing sparks into Grandma's forehead.
This sad little unlit bag sat in a corner of the family lakeside cottage deck fairly yawning from self boredom waiting for the sky to darken. In the meantime, a quick trip to Target unexpectedly scored two black and white checkered fedoras for my colt and my nephew. Fedoras in a kid size? Yes, yes, they simply must be had. The pimp line runs strong in this family. Never too early to get them started. I set up a volleyball about shoulder height and had them back hand it all afternoon to get their pimp hands strong. They had pretty good technique…using a long sweeping motion going from seven o'clock up through the lower part of the volleyball to one o'clock. I left them there to practice and, when I returned an hour later, they now had three volleyballs. Not sure where the other two volleyballs came from but one of them seemed to be new in town and just looking for a place to stay. Meanwhile, a Cadillac ticked away in our driveway as it cooled from a recent trip.
Finally, it was time for the fireworks "show." Sparklers! Yay. Some longer, inappropriately named sparklers called "Morning Glories" (no kidding). Double yay. Finally, the lighting of the $9.99 sack of Michigan approved fun. Each cigar sized fired work sent an innocent, non-threatening three foot plume of yellow or green or blue or red sparkles into the air. Basically, a deluxe sparkler. Triple yay. It was so safe that the mosquitoes gathered around the new light and barely winced when some sparkle residue attached to their needle nose. The kids with their fedoras took the opportunity to do some robotic dancing in the flickering light. The volleyballs even seemed to be having a good time until my colt noticed, gave one a wicked back hand, and yelled "Get back to work."
Ten minutes later, the fun was over. We were all safe. Not one of us took a trip in an ambulance. Thanks Michigan, thanks a lot. Next year, I'm going to Indiana to pick up real fireworks so that we can celebrate America in the proper manner: with military grade explosives in the hands of half drunk amateurs and children in cheap fedoras with pimp dreams. God bless the USA!
Happy trails.
In the Shirtless Coalition, I conducted a poll to see who supports shirtless running and who
Poll results - 86 votes (so far):
Support Shirtless Running 35% (30 votes)
Why does Vanilla hate America? 29% (25 votes)
Wants to see Nitmos pecs 22% (19 votes)
Baby hating/Does not support it 14% (12 votes)
If you count the number of folks who just want to see my granite chiseled pecs, that's a mandate! So, run on shirtless runners! We support you!
Another thing the poll revealed is that there is still a strong contingent of folks wondering why Vanilla, the banker, hates America. Short answer: I don't know. He claims to be an American but then O.J. claims to be innocent too. What can you believe? I just know that – if I wanted to prove my patriotism – I wouldn't do it by attacking Feet Meet Street, taking a curiously-timed sabbatical during 4th of July, and driving down home values. Right-o?
I'm a bit behind on everyone's recent races. I'll catch up with everyone soon. I think. Or I'll completely ignore you all. You probably deserve that anyhow right?


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Labels: parenting, television
This is very wise advice. Shouldn't we *all* be careful with our eyes? I think your choice to get rid of t.v. altogether is a wonderful example to consider.
I remember watching those shows too. We lived on a farm so we had more then enough to do but we watched in the evening. They show back then aren't anything like now. More detail, if you know what I mean. I have been trying to keep t.v. off. We have been getting movies from the library. The Waltons & Kettles to name a few. My ds2 watches PBS and he is 12. But even Arthur is having programs w/a fortune teller and gay parents in it. I am guilty of CSI and such. I like how they solve the case. I don't like the grosumeness of it though.
So true! We also chose not to pay for cable, so we haven't had streaming tv in our home for years. The shows that we really like, we rent or buy on dvd (hence my overflowing shelf of SG-1...lol). When we had our first baby a little over a year ago, we made a firm decision to NEVER have tv in our home, and to have our internet access in a public area of the house only. This has also factored into our decision to home school. We want to do everything we can to protect the innocence of our children, and let them experience a lovely and wonderful childhood. But how do you protect your children from what they see in bookstores? Or on movie posters? Or in the checkout line? Or in the advertising posters in the CHILDRENS clothing section?
Jon Snowing
That's just stupid. Children are never innocent, only ignorant. Keeping them under glass bell will only make it harder for them to face reality when they get older and the bell is lifted and shattered. This world is cruel and your children should get the right informations from you before someone feeds them false ones. The bible as the source of the information is terribly out of date and out of touch with reality of the 21st century.Also, do you like making your daughter feel like idiot? Imagine her talking with other children and not having a clue about what are they talking about 'cause that's exactly what you're doing. Why do you want her to accomplish less in life than you? You were watching TV as a child, why are you not giving the same rights you had? You can control what she's watching, you know.As for home schooling: Why are you not giving her the same starting position that the other children have? Why do you think you know everything and are able to do the job as well as teachers that are trained and paid for it? Are you that proud not to see that you are not doing a favor to her, but to yourself, because ignorant child is easier to control?One day, your daughter will want to go to college and won't make it, because she will not have the same knowledge as the other people and it will be your fault for not providing it.I pray that God will bless you with wisdom to see the errors of your ways, but that's a very thin hope.Best wishes, Jon Snowing.
I wasn't going to comment but the previous poster made me relize that my experience in this area may help.I was homeschooled and was only allowed very limited amounts of t.v. when I was a child. My friends all enjoyed a lot more freedom in their homes so I really stood out but no one seemed to mind.When I started college (at 16), I didn't fit in, In a good way. I had strong foundation of faith, and a strong moral foundation. That helped protect ne throughout the college years and gave me many opertunities to live my life as a witness to Christ. We are the "salt" on this earth and the Bible cautions us against losing our flavor. How can we retain our flavor if we behave as the rest of the world behaves.I would seggest that you keep the lines of communication completly open. As your kids get older the will be interduced to things that you would prefer they not by exposed to. When that happened to me I was able to discuss it openly with my Mom without fear of her punishing me for the actions of others (or in some cases, a bad decision on my part), she would punish me for defience, but not mistakes. My Dad would react differantly. He punishments were severe, even if I had no control over the sitution so I shared almost nothing with Him.
Jon Snowing
Tonia:Yes, but you were allowed TV time, as limited as it was. Also, I guess that many of punishments you received could have been avoided if you just had correct information's from let go.I just say that she might be making a mistake and being over-protective. Fighting lost battle, because you can't hide the world from your child. (S)He will find out sooner or later about things you were trying to protect him/her from, and then it won't be a pretty sight.Also, I thought very few things can grow on salty land, so I don't think that "salt on earth" is quite a good thing to be. You do not use your flavor if you give your child opportunity to be everything she could be.
I find it quite surprising that anyone would think that TV provides "correct" information. We do not have a TV, because I don't want to waste my time on it. The Bible tells us to think about things that are noble and lovely and pure and true. Very few shows (if any) would fall into that category.
Jon Snowing
The Bible is 2000 year old book and doesn't say anything about television (or many modern things, including computers). And it's not on us to judge what's "correct" information, or whether our child will need that information later in life or not. Of course you shouldn't let the kid watch gory shows (lot's of nightmares) but that doesn't mean that all the source's of information your kid should get is one book and you.
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myCred, Callback/Pingback URL for Offerwall
Bajet $10-30 USD
I need to set up a callback/pingback URL for offerwall (TrialPay, PeanutLabs, Paymentwall, OfferToro, AdGateRewards) for my wordpress website. I am also using the plugin, myCred. I also want to connect the offerwall to myCred. When the user completes an offer on an offerwall, the offerwall will send a request using callback/pingback, which then goes to myCred.
Must be familiar with Wordpress, Offerwalls, Setting up CallBack/Pingback urls, and myCred plugin for Wordpress.
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Proven Brain Protection With Smart Dietary Choices
With the rates of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia skyrocketing, you're smart to want to protect your brain health. And as I'm going to show you in this article, it can be much easier than you might think.
Although the popular media and drug companies want you to believe that brain health is shrouded in mystery, research shows that there are reliable ways to keep your brain healthy. I've told you about some of those essential practices that can keep your brain in top shape in previous articles. They include things like getting enough sunlight and plenty of regular, quality sleep. They also include what you eat.
In today's article I'm going to share with you what studies have shown are proven are the healthiest ways to eat to protect your brain. When you do these things, your chances of staying sharp for life are off the charts.
Eat Natural Foods
Many studies have shown that certain types of diets offer powerful brain protection. But the diets are diverse. They include the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet, and the MIND diet, among others.
What all of these diets have in common is that they are are high in natural foods, including mostly whole foods. Don't worry, though. That doesn't mean you have to start eating nothing but granola! These diets all include lots of delicious, enjoyable foods.
Science has shown that diets that include lots of fruits and vegetables and beans along with dairy, starches, and natural meat, fish, and eggs, are the healthiest for brain protection.
On the flip side, what all the brain healthy diets don't include much of are things like fast food, "vegetable" oils (soy, corn, canola), high fructose corn syrup, or lots of fried foods.
So take a tip from those who know and emphasize natural, mostly unrefined foods in your diet. The studies show that not only can diets rich in natural foods reduce risk. They can also improve cognitive function.
Drink Modest Amounts Of Caffeine
Studies also show that natural caffeine from things such as coffee or tea has powerful brain protecting effects. Of course, like all good things, it's possible to have too much. But research clearly shows that 3 to 5 cups of coffee per day are not only safe, but healthy for most people.
The caffeine may be the most protective part, so you won't get the same benefits from decaf. Science has found that caffeine can actually improve brain health.
As I've cautioned you before, however, coffee in particular can cause a stress response if taken on an empty stomach or without carbohydrates. That's because the caffeine actually improves the body's metabolism. So if you don't provide adequate carbohydrates at the same time, you'll run out of energy and crash. The result is a wired or jittery feeling. And that feeling indicates an increase in stress hormones, which can have negative impacts on health over time.
To get the benefits without the downsides, be sure to drink coffee with food or with carbohydrates.
The Right Fats
The right type of dietary fats can dramatically improve brain health according to research. As we'll see, low fat diets are worse than diets with the right types of fats. But on the other hand, diets with the wrong types of fats are worse than low fat diets. The good news is that the right types of fats are the most enjoyable kinds.
A study pitted two groups against one another. One group ate a low fat diet. The other group at a diet that included one liter of olive oil per week. Long term the results were clear. The low fat group suffered more cognitive decline while the olive oil group actually improved cognitive function.
As I've explained previously, though, the type of olive oil matters. In studies the only olive oil that gives the real benefits is extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil. And, while the research isn't entirely conclusive, there is evidence that only unheated olive oil provides the most benefits. Cooking with olive oil at high temperatures may reduce its beneficial effects.
I've also reported to you that when choosing olive oil, it is important to purchase from a reliable and high quality producer. And you should look for a product that lists only one ingredient: extra virgin olive oil.
Other types of dietary fats haven't been as well studied as olive oil, but research does point out that some types of fats are more likely to have positive effects than others. And still other types can be downright dangerous.
The worst types of fats are partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Margarines are made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, and should be avoided. Use natural butter instead. Partial hydrogenation has been linked with cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline.
The "vegetable" oils such as corn, soy, and canola are also dangerous. Although they have been promoted as "heart healthy", the research shows quite the opposite. Plus, they are linked to dementia and Alzheimer's.
The traditional, natural fats such as butter and coconut oil along with the already-mentioned olive oil are your best bets. They contain significant amounts of naturally-occurring, healthy saturated and monounsaturated fats that have been linked to brain protection.
When it comes to diet and brain health, the choices are clear. To protect your brain and even improve cognitive function, make smart choices. Opt for natural, fresh foods, and eat meals containing lots of fruits and vegetables along with other whole foods such as eggs, dairy, beans, and naturally-produced meats. If you are a coffee lover, then drink moderate amounts of naturally caffeinated coffee. And choose a diet that contains modest amounts of natural, traditional fats such as butter, coconut oil, and olive oil. Do these things, along with other basics such as getting enough sleep and enough sunlight, and you'll stay sharp for life.


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Hello!! It's sooooo long since I last blogged what with one thing and another, but hopefully I am back in the land of blogging now. So much has happened and I've been trying to get my health sorted out too, which is still on going, but I have been thinking about my blog more and more and thought it was about time to get back on here!
I've been beavering away this week making cards, so hopefully I'll have something to show you later. In the meantime, I'm going on a little blog hop to catch up on what everyone has been doing and hopefully gain some much needed inspiration : )
Take care,


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Original From : Dragon Ball - The Movie -
Are You Fans of Dragon Ball...?
The world wide masterpiece that Japan can be proud of finally will make into a Hollywood movie! Many of our readers are the Dragonball generation, so we will introduce you new information in series toward the upcoming movie release in 2009 !
This is movie version Son Goku ! Goku, who is staring at a dragonball. What will he wish for with this mysterious gem?
How will original manga of Mr.Toriyama be depicted as live-action? it is anticipated in the entire world.
What is Dragonball?
Though we think it is needless to explain it, we will review for the preparation of movie release. It is created by Akira Toriyama, was serialized in the Weekly Shonen Jump from 1984. Strong and cheerful boy Son Goku and his adventure story captivated the readers quickly.
Dragonball allways kept running on the top of the manga field. Unfortunately it ended its serialization in 1995. Its popularity is not only domestic but also other Asia, Europe and the United States, it is loved by people all over the world.The Cast :
Justin Chatwin as Goku
Emmy Rossum as Bulma
Chow Yun Fat as Master Roshi (Mutenroshi)
Joon Park as Yamcha
Jamie Chung as Chichi


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The Next Hit Tycoon Game
Have your company hire programmers to create programs to crawl the web for e-mail addresses. Create strategies for text in the spam to avoid those pesky Bayesian filters. If you want to break the law, then you can start phishing scams, send out those pleas to help launder millions of dollars, and hack boxes in order to use them to spam as many people as you can. But be careful! If you don't treat your employees well, they may report you to the cops! Your game will end if you get arrested. Yes, if you like simulations, then Spam Tycoon will be an enjoyable romp while you go from someone hand e-mailing pieces of spam to your friends to a vast spamming empire that is annoying people world wide!


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Shop Our Largest Selection of Fall Seasonal Ever! Sign up today to start shopping.
- Home
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- Crafter's Toolbox™ Map Pins - Assorted Colors - 4mm - 100 pieces
Office Supplies
Office Supplies
Map pins are an exciting way to track vacations and trips. The assorted colored pins are an interactive way to include kids on family adventures and summer vacations. The assorted colors of these map pins from our Crafter's Toolbox collection includes red, green, blue, yellow, white and black.
- Pin head measures 4mm
- Pins measure .75 inches long


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Our Blog with Tombow was so exciting! Such fantastic samples and we sure appreciate your enthusiastic response! Whew!
So we have to choose three winners! This is done as "randomly" as we can. Using Random.org first we choose a random day of our blog hop, then a random blog that was part of that day, then a random comment from that blog. After, of course, eliminating all the comments from our Design Teams. So here goes!
The first winner from Marie Browning's blog on Friday was:
Michel Espey
The second winner from Debbie Fisher's Blog on Friday was:
And the final winner from Jamie Martin's Blog on Wednesday was:
Denny Serra
If you three will email us at firstname.lastname@example.com with your mailing info we will get your prizes right out in the mail to you from both Stampendous and Tombow! Congratulations!!
Everyone else, thanks so much for your kind comments and for visiting our blogs. Remember, Tombow will be giving away a participation prize, too! Check out their blog for details.
PLUS, it's not too late to enter our Mixed Media March Challenge! You could still win some Stampendous goodies by linking your creation to our contest!


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Insurgency statements like these, while obviously crafted for public consumption, should have a sobering effect on those who claim to believe that the current American 'Sunni strategy' is on the road to success. Sure, some insurgent groups have been willing to take American weapons in order to rout their local rivals and to beef up their capabilities in advance of an anticipated showdown with the Shia militias (and Iraqi government) when the Americans finally leave. I long ago pointed out the real grievances that these groups had against an over-aggressive al-Qaeda (Islamic State of Iraq) muscling in on their territory, and I have no doubts that the strategy of arming 'former' insurgents and Sunni tribes is having some effect at the local level. But this has little to do with the insurgency's overarching strategy or its views of either the American presence or the current Iraqi government. Listen to what the leaders of the insurgency groups actually say, not to what American spokesmen project upon them: the major insurgency factions remain committed to fighting until the Americans withdraw and the current political system is revised.
In other words, little of substance has changed. Al Qaeda is our enemy, and any help we can get containing them is useful (although al-Maliki is none too happy with us arming his enemies.) But it must also be understood that our presence in Iraq has drawn al Qaeda to the country like bees to honey, and that an argument that withdrawal would do just as much to destroy al Qaeda as staying to fight al Qaeda can be fairly made. In addition it remains clear that the primary motivating factor of the Sunni insurgents is our presence in the country. This does not mean that peace will bloom across Iraq merely upon our exit, as the Sunni insurgents real enemy is the Iraq government and the Shiite blocs of power that compose that government. But it does mean that our presence in the country is a highly aggravating irritant, not a source of stability, and we do not possess the military power to impose our will upon the insurgents. These facts make stability an unlikely result of the surge.


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Thursday, April 1, 2010
Just getting the hang of posting LayOuts and stuff and always seem to forget something... In this case it was a major something! I didn't give the credits to all the papers & elements for the last two Pooh pictures. Silly Willy Nilly old Bear... Credits for kit papers and elements go to Trish Yochum @ Scrapgirls and her kit Mosaic Retreat. But the template and LO design is from Jessica Sprague! It was the last assignment from Jessica Sprague's Pen Tablet class and includes her template from the class materials as well as a wonderful watercolor brush from Bittbox.com and font from Dafont.com that just worked perfectly! The entire LO was in the class materials...everything from the swirly brushes, stitch brush, rounded corner brush to the button. I just used the Mosaic Retreat for colors and the cute paperclip. The picture in the button and the faded Pooh and flower are extracted from pictures I took of the paintings on the baby's wall that I did when I was pregnant. :) And the Pooh entry under the More Layouts was a kit named Sew Chic designed by Tricia Curtis. Everything except my paintings, my pic and the Pooh frame (which I made with paper from kit, font, cs3 & time) came from the Sew Chic kit. Thanks!
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