Shameless joke stealing + Tips for holiday eating (my version) + Nostalgia for Spam & lilikoi + Tuna vs climate change

Whimsy

Excerpt from Norfolk Daily News (12/4/15):  "Go Ahead & Smile. He's just invented a wireless, battery-free, hand-operated hair-dryer. He's calling it a towel." [I admit to being a shameless joke-stealer. At least occasionally.]

Excerpt from Parade Magazine (12/16/15):  Quote by Chris Hemsworth {Thor}:  "'Do you know what's been the greatest lesson in having kids?' he asks. 'For the first time, it's not about me anymore. This internal dialogue about my own boring story isn't at the forefront of my thoughts. It's about them now, their welfare. If I make a film, what is that going to allow us to do? What is it going to give them? That's been really refreshing, I've got to say, because it's so easy to become self-centered, particularly for me in this business.'" [It is refreshing to read this from a Hollywood celebrity. I hope it wasn't a talking-point given to him by his publicist.]

Also from Parade Magazine (12/6):  From Ask Marilyn, by Marilyn vos Savant. * "Q. Do you think algebra should be required in schools? J.N., Vero Beach, FL. A. I believe algebra is essential. It's pure logic, & all students need to learn how to think, not just what [emphases included] to think. When studying algebra, they learn how to reason with facts & without bias." [I was beginning to get sucked into this evil vortex of reasoning when fortunately my background & training as a secondary English major kicked in.]
* For those of you who may not know, Marilyn has been described as having one of the highest recorded IQ's of any woman. And she writes an advice column for Parade Magazine. Yeah.]

There Is No Place Like . . . 

New York?

Excerpt from Omaha World Herald (12/5/15):  "No joke:  116-year-old record tumbles in a snowless Buffalo. A 116-yr-old record has fallen in Buffalo. This time, it's for lack of snow. The city had yet to see its first measurable snowfall by Friday, breaking the record for latest first snow set on 12/3/1899. [emphasis added] The wait will continue, NWS meteorologist Jim Mitchell said. There's no snow in the forecast until at least mid-December. [What to think? Global climate change or sloppy record-keeping?

Ohio?

Also from NDN (12/3):  "Red Ryder returns. A museum dedicated to "A Christmas Story" has acquired the holy grail of movie memorabilia:  a Red Ryder BB gun wielded by Ralphie in the beloved holiday film. The Cleveland house where exteriors for the 1983 movie were shot already draws thousands of tourists year round." [Love that movie & still watch it when I get a chance. "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."] *
* Just for the record, my parents never let me have a BB gun either. **
** Also, just for the record, my dearly beloved refuses to listen to reason & even remotely consider letting me get a gun . . . Tough to handle for someone like me who adores NCIS & believes in the 2nd Amendment. Like she does. Supposedly. But I digress.

Food for Thought

Also from OWH (12/1):  "10 holiday nutrition tips . . . Here are 10 tips from Allie Wergin, registered dietitian nutritionist at Mayo Clinic Health System, to make the party season healthier." [I have added my thoughtful & hopefully helpful insights & advice.]

1. "Don't skip meals. [Duh. If anything, this is a time of year to ADD meals.]
2. "Contribute a healthful dish. [Home-made fudge is good. Ditto peanut brittle.]
3. "Splurge strategically. [Agree! I make it a point NOT to take snacks to bed.]
4. "Think color. [You can add food coloring to fudge, but why bother?]
5. "Choose drinks wisely. [Choose egg nog, but ONLY if it has contains rum.]
6. "Visit the people, not the food. [Better yet, visit the people WITH the food.]
7. "Say no to food pushers. [Unless they are the people giving away samples at the grocery store. Plus, it would be rude to turn down people who brink snacks to work.]
8. "Savor seasonal treats. [Savor seasonal treats YEAR-ROUND.]
9. "Eat until you are satisfied. [It's rude not to sample everything at someone's Christmas buffet.]
10. "Don't feel guilty." [This sounds like an unhealthy mixing of church & state.]

Also from NDN (12/4):  "Not willing to eat 'low class' foods (column by Sheila Sybrant). Snobbish. Arbitrary. Ridiculous. My husband & children look at me differently now. A supper conversation this past Thanksgiving weekend revealed that I am the only one in my family who classifies foods. I don't mean 'classifies' as in fruit or vegetable or meat or dairy. I mean 'classifies' as in class.

      "We were talking about Spam (talking about it is, in my opinion, significantly better than eating it). My daughter used to love the stuff, & my son still wears that if I would just give it a chance, my husband's grilled Spam-and-cheese sandwiches are amazing." [Oh, Sheila. You would have been a very unpopular haole in Hawaii, whose citizens boast of the highest per capita consumption of Spam in the U.S.A. No, I'm not kidding. Ever hear of Spam musubi? During the few years we lived there, my kids learned to love it. Also, it wasn't uncommon to visit Sam's Club or Costco & see people with shopping carts loaded with CASES of the product.]

An Interesting [in my opinion *] Aside:  I spend a few hours @ Orphan Grain Train each week, writing some devotions. OGT is an international relief agency whose headquarters are in, believe it or not, Norfolk, NE. We tend to gather for a morning break around 10:30 every morning. Last week some of our friends from Latvia sent us a package of goodies which included Latvian rye break, both dark & light varieties, & a variety of-dark chocolate candies. Some of these candies had flavored-fillings in them. Among these flavors were mango & passion fruit. Delicious! [Although I can't say that the flavors were all that strong, it still made me a little nostalgic for Hawaii. In Hawaii the passion fruit is called "lilikoi." Shave ice--a treat that we encountered for the first time in the Islands {think 'snow cones,' only better w/more exotic, tropical flavors at hand--w/lilikoi syrup became my favorite. When also hiked a favorite trail on an escarpment near the northwest tip of Oahu, located at the edge of the Waianae Mtgs. across from Cunningham Field. Very steep, lots of switchbacks, often very narrow until you reached the top. At one point you passed beneath a small grove of lilikoi trees. Fruit which fell on the trail got trampled, so before you ever reached that spot, you smelled the aroma of the fruit whose fragrance had been released. I can still smell it. But I digress.] 

* And always remember . . . it's MY blog.

Criminal Minds

Also from OWH (12/5):  "So, guess where man named Bud Weisser is arrested. St. Louis police say the Budweiser brewery got an unwelcome visit from a man with a memorable name. Bud Weisser, [emphasis added] 19, was cited for trespassing & resisting arrest. Police said he was found in a secured area of the brewery late Thursday. Weisser was issued summonses for trespassing & resisting arrest . . . " [Note from Subway to Budweiser:  Given any thought to making Bud your national spokesperson?  A word of advice. Don't!]

Also from NDN (12/2):  "Polar bear pit. A man jumped inside a polar bear pit Wednesday at the Copenhagen Zoo, forcing zookeepers to fire rubber bullets at the 621-kilogram (1,369-lb) bear so they could rescue him. The man leaped into the enclosure shortly after noon as guests, including children, were watching the 10-year-old bear.

      "Zoo staffers at first yelled to distract the animal before others w/firearms arrived, firing rubber bullets to get the animal to back off . . . " [What's not reported it that the first group of people who showed up w/firearms were members of PETA, who fired rubber bullets at the man in an attempt to drive him TO the polar bear.]

Political Tuesday . . . Special WED edition

Also from OWH (12/5):  "Concern about less competition torpedoes tuna merger. Chicken of the Sea & Bumble Bee have called off their proposed merger after the Obama administration told the companies it would hurt competition in the U.S. canned tuna market. The Justice Dept. announced Friday that the deal, announced a year ago between Thailand's largest seafood company & Bumble Bee Foods of the U.S. was off . . . 'Consumers are better off w/o this deal,' said Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer, adding that the 2 companies knew or should have known that competition already is lacking in the canned tuna market, & more consolidation would make the situation worse." [Question:  Doesn't the Justice Dept. know that our biggest threat is climate change, not tuna prices?]