Pennan Brae's Co-star in Music Video

How many of you can say you appeared in a music video?  Well I can't, but I'll bet none of you had your keyboard appear in one (unless you're the musician, of course)!  I'd like to think our keyboard will become a star, but I suppose Vancouver's pop/rock singer-songwriter Pennan Brae is far more deserving.  And I'll admit that Kauai as a backdrop and the video babe both outshined our keyboard, but being the fourth star in the beautifully performed and produced video is pretty darned cool. 

It began with a Craigslist ad I placed several months ago.  I had to renew it a couple of times without anyone inquiring about it.  As usual,  I suddenly got three different inquiries within a few weeks and thankfully Rob Osmond (aka Pennan Brae) ended up with "Cassie".   [Yes, you read correctly, years ago Jordan affectionately named the keyboard "Cassie."]   Rob needed a keyboard to use in his music video that could easily be carried to the various locations they'd planned to shoot in and as you can see in the video, was "expendable" since it was subjected to the elements and Kauai's great outdoors.  Hmmm, Cassie got to go places I've never been myself!

Anyway, take a look and enjoy the scenery, performance, and the beautiful song!  If you're in Vancouver, B.C. someday, you may be able to catch a performance.  Check out Pennan Brae's website: http://www.pennanbrae.com/

And if you're wondering what became of Cassie, well she was donated in good working order to a thrift store somewhere on the Westside, and hopefully went to yet another loving and talented musician. 

Adult Summer Fun

I haven't posted for several weeks because I've been busy with "adult summer fun."  Like at the kids' summer fun programs I used to attend when I was in school, I did some arts & crafts work (which I sold at the Koloa Plantation Days), I danced (at bon dances), and socialized and played games (at two reunions).  I'm sure you're doing the summer fun thing too!

First of all, the Koloa Plantation Days parade and fair continues to improve each year.  For just a $2 admission, people enjoyed continuous entertainment from such performers as Amy Hanaiali'i, Frank DeLima, and Augie T.  Happily, the craft tent business was much better than last year, hopefully a good sign that the economy is recovering. 

There is no sign more clear that time is flying by than going to a bon dance.  It seems like just a month ago I was dancing at Waimea's Higashi Hongwanji bon dance and yet there we were again.  Kind of freaky, I must say.  I must apologize for Jordan's overly zealous videotaping the Iwakuni with her iPod.  I was blissfully unaware that she had climbed up the tower steps because I was in the "audience" on the opposite side of the tower.  And you thought bon dance singers didn't have paparazzi!

Hubby's Waimea High's Class of '67 had a weekend full of fun activities: a golf tournament, cookout, dinner, and Napali boat riding.  This class is lucky to have members who seem to enjoy planning frequent reunions--it seems like once every 1-2 years--even their planning meetings are fun!  For instance, this latest reunion wasn't for a particular decade or half-decade or even milestone birthday.  It was their 43rd year reunion. On the other hand, my own Kaimuki High class only has reunions every ten years.  A lot of gray hair and flab can happen in ten years, not to mention wrinkles.  Having more frequent reunions means you're more apt to recognize your classmates! 

The other reunion we went to was our Tachibana family reunion and I was able to enjoy it this time, since I was not in charge (Great job Joanne and team!).  It was held at the Tokai University, catered by Karen's Catering, who did an excellent job--yummm!

My contribution was to update the DVD slideshow I made for the first reunion five years ago.  "Update?  No problem!" Naturally it was more difficult and stressful than I'd anticipated, so I wanted to celebrate when I finished burning it on the third day.  Oops, as I watched it I found a couple of mistakes.  Ok, the second version was burning, now I could celebrate!  Uh oh, I see another mistake.  As you may have guessed, I didn't get to celebrate (or go to bed) until 3 a.m. after several more revisions.  A friend later told me I should make DVD's as a business and I said "Noooo thanks!!"  Then she said she once paid $500 for a graduation DVD for her son.  I think I'll reconsider.

Photo slideshows can be very boring, so I took a lesson from the Waimea '67 reunion and let the slideshow run quietly on the side while people arrived and socialized, and throughout the meal.  That way people who were interested could enjoy it while others talked story. 

We had a couple of fun games, introduced as "Have you seen the show 'Minute to Win It'?  Yeh?  Well this is nothing like that!"  *LOL*  I guess it was more like "Six Minutes to Win It''.  At any rate, we had fun and our team, which was the smallest,  excelled at using chopsticks to pick up M&M's and shooting cans with rubberbands, so we won first place!  Woohooo!

The best part about both reunions was listening to stories.  It amazes me how some people have such sharp memories of incidents of the past.  Unfortunately for us babyboomers with poor memories, there were no video cameras, camera phones, etc.  We did, however, have Kodak brownies then instamatics, and oh yeh, Polaroids!  I envy the young generation who'll have their personal and family histories well documented with video (eg. Jordan with her videotaping iPod).  On the other hand, there'll be hard evidence that you sucked at rubberband shooting.

"Then You Take Your Dollah..."

If you recall a few posts back, I shared a bargain I found on eBay for iPod accessories.  [There should be a law against tHese tYpes of wOrds, and what happens if they're at the start of a sentence?]   Well that same eBay seller has a great deal on mini flashlights.

I don't know exactly why, but I love mini flashlights.  I dunno, maybe they give me this sense of power or security to have them in my purse.  The mini's I ordered, however, are not as tiny as I prefer--they're over 3 inches long--and they take THREE AAA batteries, but wow, they are powerful with 9 LED bulbs.  They're awesome to have for power outages because one of these little guys can light up a room better than a conventional flashlight.  

Ready for the price?  $6.99 for 5!  The batteries cost more than the flashlights themselves.  And hello....SHIPPING IS INCLUDED....and they arrived in FOUR DAYS counting Sunday!!!  

Okay, as I promised earlier, here are more money-saving tips.  Keep in mind that I try to list suggestions I came across on my own, not just copying off other lists.  For more ideas you can probably google "money-saving ideas."

1) Whenever we go to Honolulu, we rent a car.  I reserve something as soon as possible because I learned the hard way last Christmas that you can't always count on finding the "usual" prices even two months ahead sometimes.  The great thing about reserving a car is that you can always cancel it (and please have the courtesy to do so).  So okay, you reserve the car early, but a week or two before your trip, look for a better deal.  If you're willing to pay in advance, you can find super good deals such as $11 a day at Priceline for a major rental agency (Alamo, Avis, etc.).

2)  I don't like using laundry softeners too much because it makes towels less absorbent plus we don't care for too much scent.  I found that cutting dryer sheets in half or even thirds will still cut down on static cling plus save you money!

3) My mom, sister, and I are loyal long-time Long's customers.  I was sad, of course, when CVS took over, but now--not so much.  Why, you ask?  Because I've discovered--ok my mom discovered--the wonders of the CVS card.   It's free, of course, but I usually balk at getting yet another card.  They've redeemed themselves by immediately giving me a $4 off $20 coupon, then a fifty cents coupon within just two visits.

4) Doublecheck this one because I bought them over a year ago, but Kukui Grove Cinemas gives a little bonus with the gift certificate tickets you buy.  You pay $8--the regular price--for a gift ticket and the user gets a free small popcorn.  If you buy these in advance and use them yourself, you save on popcorn!  (Okay I don't want to hear "But I gotta have a LARGE!"  Didn't you hear how bad that stuff is for your health?  Pssst, get the free small and buy another small or medium...you still save!)

5) This saves on electricity/gas:  Don't believe the instructions on the pasta box.  You don't have to boil the pasta for 9 minutes or whatever.  I just boil pasta for a couple of minutes then turn it off and cover for 5-10 minutes (check occasionally so they don't get soft). 

As Ellen says, "You're welcome!"

I want to add that it's great and even fun to figure out ways to save money, BUT please don't go overboard to the "point of no class".  This means no mooching, no ziploc bags on the buffet line, and no stealing toilet paper from public toilets (or 20 bags of catsup from McD's, etc.).  Besides, haven't you learned anything from watching "True Beauty"?  Do not dishonor your fellow penny-pinchers!

Drive-In Movie Bento Night

To celebrate July 4th, we did something nostalgic:  We went to a drive-in with our bento dinner.  Remember those days?  Waialae Drive In Theater was our family's favorite.  The best part was going in our pajamas.  I wish I could remember at what age I stopped wearing pajamas to the drive-in.  Ok I'm kidding, the best part was my mom's bentos.  So very simple, but so delicious: musubi, fried rolled eggs, spam or vienna sausages, potato salad, celery/carrot sticks, etc.  Usually something like teriyaki or chicken, but the aforementioned were the staples.

You're saying, "Waaait a minute!  First of all Hawaii doesn't have any more drive-in theaters and Kauai never had any!  How could you go to a drive-in theater on the 4th?"  Ok so it wasn't exactly a theater, but like a drive-in theater, it WAS a parking lot (Ace Hardware's) and there WAS a performance: the "Concert in the Sky" fireworks show.  And, there was bento!

Perhaps because of the recession, the parking lot was more crowded than ever before, full of people who didn't want to pay the $10 entrance fee to the nearby Vidinha Stadium. It's not that we're cheap (well ok maybe we are--see blog post below), but honestly, we just didn't care to deal with the parking issue, walking to the field, possible rain, etc.  This way we could simply sit in our car, eat our dinner, and enjoy, then easily drive off as soon as the show ended.  [Ok everyone who did the "freebie" route like we did, please make a donation to Kauai Hospice!]

I made a LOT of musubis because they're my favorite part of the meal.  If that's all there was I'd still be happy!  They have to be almost fully covered with nori, of course, and have an ume in the center.  Tuna mixed with mayo/salt/pepper is also a delicious filling--try it if you haven't.  My second favorite part of a homemade bento is the egg omelet roll:

3 large eggs
1/2 t. Bragg's or soy sauce
1/2 t. sugar
1/8 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
1/4 c. minced chives and/or green onions
1/2 c. tuna (optional)

Mix eggs with seasonings.  Read the following carefully for best results:

If using a 12" pan, 3 eggs should make a nice thin layer.  If using a smaller pan, you'll be able to make 2 omelets.  Heat the oiled frying pan and pour enough egg to form a thin layer covering the whole pan.  You're going to roll the egg, so determine which is your starting edge ("front half").  Immediately lower the heat and work fast.  (You don't want the egg to cook too fast, especially on the "back" half of the pan.)  I move the pan so that the back half of the pan is off the burner and cooks more slowly than the front half.  Working quickly, sprinkle the green onions/chives all over the egg except for the very back edges.  Sprinkle tuna.  When front end is firm enough, start rolling, carefully loosening the egg from the pan with a spatula.  You'll probably need two spatulas if using a 12" pan to properly roll the omelet.  Hopefully when you reach the end of your roll the egg on that back edge will still be a little "tacky" so it will stick and seal the roll.  Remove the roll from the pan and cool.  Slice diagonally about 3/4 " wide or as desired.

Rather than make the usual potato salad, I used Okinawan sweet potatoes to make a simple salad.  I guess the demand for these potatoes went up--Costco now sells them in a box--because supposedly they're the secret to longevity in Okinawa.  I don't really have a recipe, but more or less this is what I used and it turned out pretty good:

3 medium sweet potatoes (cooked in the microwave for about 8 minutes, but test with a toothpick.  I then place a stainless steel bowl--or foil--over them to steam a bit more for a few minutes.  Cut into cubes and then cool in the refrigerator.)

3 T. mayonnaise

1/4 t. pepper

1/2 t. salt

1 t. vinegar (I use Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar)

1/2 t. sugar

1/4 c. minced onions

1/2 c. minced celery

Because potato sizes vary, you may have to modify measurements.  We don't like too much mayo in ours.

We also had some of Foodland's fried chicken (yum!!) and that was pretty much it!  Not the healthiest meal, but not the worst, either. 

The weather was great and the fireworks were beautiful.  If only we could've worn pajamas it would've been even more perfect! 

You Save Fifty Cents Here...

Looks like this recession is trickling up now.  In the past week I've seen two instances of this effect.  In case you're wondering what I'm referring to by trickling UP, it means the first part of the recession affected the working man and consequently because of him spending less, businesses either went under or were forced to cut back, thus now impacting the b2b's (businesses that service other businesses) who survived in 2009.

But hey, I only took Economics 101 so what do I know...especially since that was way back when UH tuition was cheap and the campus was well maintained.  What I do know is that people are still losing jobs and if there had been course in Money Conservation at the UH, I would've been at the 404 level! 

So off the top of my head, here are a few suggestions for penny-pinching.  There are also tips on conservation and health, too...

1) I've mentioned this before:  BUDGET Basic Cable.  You really don't need "Basic" Cable for almost $50/month when there's $13/month Budget Basic (we get about 30 stations--more than enough!).

2) No shame...you don't have to buy fancy Tupperware.  I've been called "Miss Cool Whip Container" and look, this means my ecological "footprint" is that much smaller.  If you can't use all of the containers, recycle the #1's and #2's OR drop them off at a school or daycare OR sell or give them away at your garage sale.

3) Buy vitamin and herbal supplements online.  Even with shipping it's cheaper than shopping at the stores PLUS the supplements are generally higher quality.  I just ran out of calcium and went to Walmart.  Not only were their calcium supplements (all brands!) more expensive, they had a multitude of "bad" ingredients (fillers, preservatives, etc.).  I couldn't bring myself to buy any of them!  Incidentally, my favorite shampoo, Jason Natural Tea Tree Oil Scalp Normalizing Shampoo, which sells at stores for over $9, is just $4.55 at Swansonhealth.com! 

4) Turning off power bars does save a few dollars a month!  If you can't turn off the whole bar, unplug those chargers at least.  I unplug our modem and router every night too. You'll be pleasantly surprised to see your electric bill showing a difference. 

5) If you've got a tissue hog in your household, try buying single-ply toilet tissue.  Usually Safeway has the best price on this. 

6) Rather than buying new books, go to the library.  If you can't bring yourself to do this, go to Amazon.com and buy used books--as well as DVD's and CD's.  You'll save---again, even with the shipping added!  There are bestsellers for just a penny each! (Shipping=$3.99)

7) Something I just started doing is recycling water.  You could buy a contraption from Costco for saving rainwater from your gutters to water your yard, but I do this on a smaller scale by just catching rinsewater from vegetable washing or other "clean" rinsing in a bowl and transferring it into a plastic gallon bottle to use later for soaking dirty dishes or watering the few plants I bother to water.  (Growing vegetables is a great way to save money, but I did not inherit that skill from my dad, unfortunately).

8) I make healthy "snack bags" for Jordan's lunch bag instead of sending chips/cookies, etc. Costco's selling an excellent beef jerky (Pacific Gold) which uses no preservatives or HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). Cut them up into small pieces, add nuts (preferably raw/unsalted), raisins or other dried fruit cut up (I use mango, cherries, dates, or blueberries), Mini Wheats cereal pieces, chocolate chips, a few potato sticks or rice crackers. It's fun to make these bags and you can totally control the ingredients--use your imagination! Make sure to buy the ingredients on sale or by bulk.   By the way, I also put these same ingredients in a small bowl for myself to snack on during the day.

9) Home lunches--or brownbagging--is another obvious money-saver.  Have you tried banana/peanut butter/jelly sandwiches?  Use whole wheat bread and sprinkle some cinnamon on the bananas and you're getting even more health benefits! 

When you make your dinner salad, just make a bit more for your lunch the next day to save time.  Leonard's naturopathic doc, Dr. Ancharsky, recommends at least 6 ingredients for your salads.  Typically I use spinach, lettuce, cilantro, red cabbage, sweet peppers, celery, brocco sprouts, carrots, tomatoes and/or cucumbers.  For kick, add some jalapeno peppers or artichoke hearts.  Top with tuna or chicken or how about salsa and cheese for a Mexican salad? 

Instead of sandwiches, try a wrap.  You'll get less calories this way and you're able to load more healthy fillings.  Costco sells a flat bread in an oblong shape that's ideal for wrapping.  Jordan likes Mexican wraps (similar to a burrito with refried beans, tomatoes, lettuce, sweet peppers, salsa), but again, anything goes and they're easier to eat than a sandwich, too.

10) Lastly, ladies--ahem-- if you place them carefully, you can cut your pantyliner bill in half if you cut your pantyliners in half! Hint: Kotex Longs. Hey, you might think "Awww, it only costs $1.29 a box!" but remember the saying "If you take care of the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves!" And what about Russell Peter's Chinese shop guy? "You save fitty cent here, then you go to another shop, save another fitty cent... then you got a DOL-LAH...then you go to the Dollah store and buy yourself something else!" (video below).
 



I know I have more ways to save money while keeping healthy, but these are the ten I came up with today.  I'll add more later!  Don't forget.. Russell Peters will be at the Blaisdell Concert Hall on Nov. 27!

Releasing Our Kraken

I thought I'd just write a quicky to say that I saw Sex and the City 2 and enjoyed it.  I would write more in its defense, but someone already did, so why waste my time?  All I want to say is that despite the bad reviews (most critics are male, btw),  I think of SATC as entertainment and escapism and frankly, I preferred this second movie to the first, except for the absence of Gilles Marini. My favorite scene was the gay wedding with Liza Minnelli.  My favorite guy in this movie (besides Mr. Big, of course), was the Indian butler played by Raza Jaffrey and I got a chuckle reading about how he's being stopped on the street these days and praised for how he stirred Carrie's hot milk.  OMG, that sounds a bit suggestive, but believe me, it's totally just a tender scene.  I've read the critical reviews and heck, we women are just as entitled to mindless fluff as men are entitled to theirs:  "Release the KRAKEN!!!" (I've always wanted to say that!).  Our Kraken is surely Samantha during her hot flashes.  (Sorry for the finger photo, but it pretty much represents Samantha as a Kraken, after all!)

So please, go and see the movie and don't be put off by critics and even if you've seen the pirated version online, go see it on the big screen, where you can actually hear the jokes and not be confused by extraneous noises while the movie was being videotaped in the theater.  [It actually happened twice I watched the pirated version online. I heard a cough in a quiet scene and thought someone else was in Carrie's room, then later a cell phone rang and I wondered why no one in the movie was picking up. *LOL*]

On to books! If anyone has suggestions for a good book for me to read that does not involve raping/murdering, excessive violence or excessive romance, please leave a message in the Comments.  I notice I'm becoming more picky about what I read and have been leaving a lot of books unfinished lately.  Maybe because as I get older, I know I have less and less time to waste on 1) overly flowery prose (Dean Koontz cannot let a man simply walk down a street without describing each bush), 2) predictable plots (of course the cute guy will end up loving the homely girl then her cheating bf will try to get her back), and 3) overused phrases (such as Stephanie Plum constantly "blowing out a sigh"). 

I still enjoy Maeve Binchy, but I've read all of her books.  I enjoy Maeve's plots that involve multiple characters so I also loved "Pillars of the Earth" and "A World Without End," except I don't care for the violent war scenes.  I'm now discovering "discovery" thrillers and currently reading Douglas Preston's "Tyrannosaurus Canyon" and "Almost Adam" by Petru Popescu.  Just in case I don't finish them, however,  I also have "Sein Language" by Jerry Seinfeld, and Dave Barry's "Boogers Are My Beat"  (Uh oh...but you have to admit, that's neither overused nor predictable!) standing by.  I just pray there are no Kraken-sized boogers in that book!!

Selflessly Sacrificing My Bejewled Blitz Time

At least I donate blood.  There are times I feel guilty when I read or hear about people who do so much: they work fulltime, raising five kids, and yet have time to keep fit as well as do volunteer work.  As they say, if you want something done, give it to a busy person.  Shame on me, I have a flexible schedule working at home and yet I don't do volunteer work and "keeping fit" means bouncing my BodyBlade six minutes a day.  I count vacuuming as part of my exercise time---ok so that adds another whole ten minutes a week, wheeee!

So to help alleviate my guilt, I donate blood a couple times a year and write this blog.  I have very small veins, so hey, it's a big deal to get gouged and bruised twice a year.  [I've learned, however, to ask for the "expert" and 99% of the time they're able to hit the mark on their first try---thank goodness.]

As for my other public service obligation, here are some of the latest tips I'd like to share:

1) If you're worried about home invasions, today I received an email that suggests using your car remote's horn button as a security device.  Leave your car keys by your bed at night and if you hear a suspicious noise outside or someone breaking into your house, hit the horn button on the remote to start your horn beeping.  Chances are the burglar won't stick around to see if anyone in the neighborhood noticed the annoying blaring in the middle of the night.  Additionally, when you're out, be sure to carry your remote car keys in your hand while walking to your parked car to use as an alarm if you're threatened.

2) The latest quick tips gleaned from Dr. Oz's shows and Dr. Mercola's site:

•  Choose salmon over tuna, and smaller/younger fish (sardines, iriko) over bigger/older fish to lessen your mercury exposure.
• Eat these foods for longevity: jicama, kale, sweet potatoes (esp. the purple ones!), teff, amaranth, millet, mangos, dates, and apples (organic if possible).
• Interesting and hopeful news: the AMA (American Medical Association) Journal will have a regular feature looking into the massive overuse of medication and treatments that patients don't need.  Hel-lo!? Is the Medical world finally acknowledging what the Naturopathic world has been saying all along?  The 2012 Paradigm Shift is going to happen, I tell you!

3) Hopefully you recycle plastics, whether or not you get paid.  Don't forget that besides the usual juice, shampoo, and vitamin bottles, you can also toss into the plastic bin any container with the #1 and #2 symbol, such as those big rectangular containers from Costco that you get vegetables or baked goods in, tofu containers, or those ridiculously hard-to-open blister packs that batteries and electronic devices are sold in.  I'm telling you this because I only recently realized these are recyclable...duh!!

4) News Flash!!  Ok, so it's old news from a few months ago, but I just heard that finally Stephanie Plum will be immortalized on film!!  Although I've been hoping for years for a Plum television series, I heard today that Janet Evanovich's beloved Jersey Girl, Stephanie the Bounty Hunter, will be played by Katherine Heigl in "One For the Money," based on the first Stephanie Plum book (there are now sixteen plus a few "in betweens").  I'm not so thrilled with Katherine Heigl getting the part, but will reserve judgment until after the movie comes out.  Stephanie's fans, from what I see on various message boards, are not happy with her casting either.  We'll soon find out if Heigl can act or not.  Meanwhile, the casting of Ranger is oh-so-perfect in Daniel Sunjata (on the left) who appeared in a Sex and the City episode as a sailor.  Wow, I was hoping I'd see him again!  Morelli will be played by Jason O'Mara.  The big question now is who will play Grandma Mazur and Lula?  Showing my age, I always picture Estelle Getty "Golden Girls" and Jackee Harry (see photo below) "227"--I swear she IS Lula--when I read the books.  I also imagined Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Ranger and Chris Noth as Morelli.  Oddly, I could never picture Stephanie, but someone mentioned Debra Messing and yeh, she plays "bungling" well.  Unfortunately these actors are all too old--or in Ms. Getty's case, gone--for the parts.

Ok, I've done my good deed so now I can go back to Bejeweled Blitz.  Oh shoots I just remembered I have a report due...oh yeh, Monday....hmmmm....lots of time.   Hey, at least I give blood!

For Your Entertainment

I may be a latecomer and you may already know about the following, but they're just too good not to mention:

1) Stieg Larrson--"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "The Girl Who Played With Fire," and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest"--is my current favorite author.   After reading Tess Gerritsen's books and other similar "female murder victim" books (see my "Cake and Blood" blogpost), I decided to boycott such novels.  I have a big bag of books from friends/relatives and as I weeded out the offensive books, I was left with "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."  I read the synopsis on the back and seeing reference to a missing girl, I was about to set it aside, but heck, it was the last book left AND it was set in Sweden!  I really like Sweden and Swedes and decided to make an exception so I could "travel" to Sweden at last.

Wow, I'm very glad I didn't toss out this book.  It had me up until the wee hours in bed with my little book light.  It's a suspenseful, oh-so-satisfying read with all the elements of the perfect thriller.  I love the mystery, strength and genius of the Girl (Lisbeth Salander) and the integrity and steadfastness of Mikael Blomkvist, the journalist who is the main male character (he could be Stieg Larrson himself from what little I know of him).  I just finished the second book of the trilogy but will take my time getting the third, since sadly, that's all there is and will be. *sniff*

Stieg Larrson, a magazine editor, wrote the three books in his spare time then died suddenly of a heart attack just before they were published.  According to Martha Woodroof of NPR, Larrson was a "crusading anti-fascist journalist who was passionate in his support of anyone being victimized."  I can't tell you how sad I feel that he didn't live to see his books become bestsellers, then subsequently made into movies in Sweden. (There are plans for an American movie.)  Not only is it a huge loss of a great novelist and a courageous journalist, but he was born in 1954 so he was my "classmate," so to speak.

2) Russell Peters--is an Anglo-Indian comedian from Canada.  Look for him on Comedy Central or YouTube.  Funnnnnny!  It was given that I'd like him because I like Bollywood, Indians, and the Indian accent, but Leonard really enjoyed his comedy too.  His comedy is based mostly on the different races, similar to Hawaii's Andy Bumatai and Frank DeLima.  Check him out!

3) I doubt I have to tell you that the new Sex and the City movie will be released next week, but I just found out that Liza Minnelli is making a cameo appearance singing, of all things, Beyonce's "Single Ladies." Too funny!! I've been a fan of Liza's since the 70's and "Cabaret." I was lucky enough to see her twice in concert and she was amazing.  Although I read some disparaging remarks about her singing "Single Ladies," I heard it and loved it as simply something fun.  It's not as though she recorded it as a single, hoping to get on the charts, after all.  Before you go to hear her on this page, be forewarned if you want to know NOTHING about the movie because there's a small spoiler (I don't consider it a big deal really) that explains what she was doing in the movie.

Speaking of SATC, if you're in Vegas and enjoy slot machines, be sure to look for the SATC penny video slot machines. I played them at the Fremont and at Fitzgerald's.   What I loved were the fun bonuses and video snippets from the show!  Be prepared, however, to spend some money.  You might put in $20 and hit no bonuses and poof!  your twenty is gone in three minutes.  On the other hand, when you do hit a bonus it's SATC heaven: depending on the bonus, you get to look at shoes, bags, dresses, wedding gifts, see your favorite characters, etc.   In one of my sessions, I started hitting bonuses immediately and walked away with $150 after almost an hour.  Even better, I sat next to a fellow SATC fan and we enjoyed each other's bonuses, cheering noisily (well ok, you know me, I'm not noisy, but she made me chant "Mr. Big, Mr. Big, Mr. Big!" whenever one of us got a wheel spin.)  Check out this photo I found, by the way...hmm that guy looks familiar...and if you want to see a video of the slot machine itself, along with Chris Noth introducing it, click here.

I hope at least one of the above entertains you!  You deserve it!

Ski Thingy Works!

A few posts back I wrote about the Bodyblade I bought from ShopNBC for around $80 ($69 plus shipping, tax).  Well don't look for before/after pics of me, but I want to report that it seems to be working!  I haven't been using it diligently--not surprising for me--but maybe 5-10 minutes 5 out of 7 days a week for the past couple of months.  Ok, ok, closer to 5 than 10 minutes, I admit it!  The good news is that my jelly belly has flattened a bit (please don't look because the jelly's still there) and my balance has improved.  For the first time ever, my Wii Fit age was 11 years younger than my actual age after taking the weight and balance tests.  My Wii (Un)Fit age was never that low! What's more, I pigged out in Vegas and didn't gain any weight!  Woohoo!

At this point of my life I don't really care about a flat stomach except that a fat one is very unhealthy, but I am concerned with building core strength and balance.  I've been diagnosed to have osteoporosis and refuse to take Fosamax, Boniva, etc.  The thousands of patients who complained of bad side effects on AskaPatient.com scare the heck out of me and besides, Dr. Leia Melead, my naturopathic doc, warned me against them 6 years ago!  In fact, just a couple of months ago, a new frightening side effect was uncovered by ABC News: spontaneous femur fractures.  The femur is normally the strongest bone in the human body and yet there are increasing incidents of women who have been taking biphosphonate drugs (Fosamax, Boniva, Actonel, etc.) fracturing their thigh bones with little cause (i.e. low impact actions such as stepping over things, walking down stairs, etc.).  This is on top of other known side effects such as jaw bone necrosis,  severe joint/muscle pain, heart problems, etc.  I sure hope Sally Field doesn't try to jump rope!

So getting back to my original subject, I would recommend trying the Bodyblade, especially if you're not as lazy as I am (which in all probability you're not).  It's really easy to use and appears to be effective even with minimal use.  After searching the internet, ShopNBC seems to have the best deal and it arrives within a few days if they have it in stock.  Meanwhile, I'll keep you posted as I continue to use my "ski thingy".

Nice and Easy...and Free!

I've got another public service announcement that may save you a lot of frustration if you're trying to put videos on a DVD.  It could've saved me about 8 hours if I found it earlier.  My problem is that I don't give up quickly enough when something's not working.  I refuse to believe something won't do what it should do and stubbornly I keep trying.  I think I have too much faith in my fellow human beans...in this case program writers.  It's amazing that I don't suffer from high blood pressure, but then I do have a lot of white hair (thank goodness for Nice and Messy--I mean Nice and Easy).  Finally after three days of struggling with my converter program and Windows DVD Maker (grrrr!) I googled "Best way to make DVD from mov files" and found a couple of YouTube videos about DVD Flick. This DVD program should be called "Nice and Easy" and it's FREE!

If you own a digital camera or iPod that produces video files that are not compatible with Windows DVD Maker (grrrr), go and download a program called DVD Flick.  If you need a tutorial, check this YouTube video or even this one.  Isn't it ridiculous that Microsoft's DVD Maker program--at least the one I have on this laptop with Vista--won't convert files for us!?  What are we paying them for anyway?  And get this, DVD Flick is FREE (I donated $10 at their site, but it's purely optional). 

Speaking of free "open source" programs, I also use and love Open Office instead of Microsoft Office.  Uh oh, I hope Bill Gates isn't reading my blog.  (Please no snickering!).  I also threw away my Norton's and have been using Avast for the past five years or so.  When searching for free programs, make sure you check their reviews or that they come recommended from a reliable source...unless, of course, you're so mentally fatigued from converting files that keep getting rejected by Microsoft that your hair turns white that you're willing to take advice from some guy called "gunflintwoodshop" on YouTube.  *LOOOOOL*

P.S. And be nice and donate to these free sites!

Things That Make You Go "What?!"

First of all, I've gotta tell someone about the great deal I found on eBay and hopefully one of you can benefit.  I'm sure thousands of people have purchased the iPod Nano 5th generation because Costco's got it featured right at their entrance for months.  We bought one for Jordan for her birthday.  The deal I found is an accessory pack from RDStore on eBay.  OMG!!!  For $9.99 plus $3 shipping, we got a ridiculous 22-piece set of iPod covers (leather, silicone skins, hard clear plastic--about 10 in all?), USB cord with nifty retractable device, car charger, AC charger, 2 screen protectors, earphones, earphone SPLITTER (so two people can listen at once!), armband that fits some of the covers, and wriststrap.  Seriously, now Leonard wants an iPod and is using this set as his excuse, "Hey, why waste all those covers?!"  The quality is good, by the way.  Ordinarily you'd pay about $15 for a leather case alone at a retail store, or the same for a charger.  Even if you don't have a Nano 5th generation, check out the RDStore for other values.  Nope, I don't get commission.

Next I want to give you some good news from Dr. Mercola (usually the bearer of bad health news).  According to this article, pharmaceutical drug trials are inadvertently revealing a phenomenon: We may not need pharmaceutical drugs!  They've been finding the placebos becoming more and more effective.  In other words, more and more patients than ever are healing themselves taking a sugar pill, thinking they're taking the real thing. This made me laugh---score one for natural healing! 

Speaking of things unexplained, Jordan has been to Vegas just twice and twice she spun the $1000 on the Wheel of Fortune (both times on the first night!).  Meanwhile I've been playing slot machines for over 30 years and the most I've won at one pull was $750.  I wonder if slot machines are like our bodies?  Probably Jordan believes she can win so she does and I subconsciously don't believe I can win so I don't?  I guess my placebo frogs and clover keyring aren't working?!  *LOL*

By the way, check out the Society of Seven and Jasmine Trias at the Gold Coast.  We enjoyed their show.  It was reasonably priced plus we got "upgraded" to a better table just minutes before the show.  This was about the fifth time I've been to see SOS and they're always entertaining.  Seeing Jasmine perform was a bonus.  She's really grown as a performer since her AI days!

Lastly, I would like to give this public service suggestion: Snopes.com.   I get forwarded emails every day and have learned to check Snopes.com to confirm even those emails which state "confirmed by Snopes".   Or if you don't believe Snopes, there are other sites which investigate the astounding "facts" we learn every day online.  The reason I'm telling you this is because not only are we doing a disservice to others by perpetuating false info, but I find myself wanting to tell the sender that the info is false.  I often do tell them, but in some cases I hesitate because I hate to burst their bubble.  Take for instance the email about treating heart attacks by coughing.  I was happy that the sender cared enough to send me that information, but when I checked Snopes and another source, found that the info was wrong and may harm instead of help.  I debated whether or not to inform the sender, because maybe next time he won't send me helpful information.  Of course I had to let him know since I didn't want him to use false information. 

So please check everything you find online that seems too wonderful to be true.  Sometimes it IS true, sometimes it's partly true, and sometimes just plain old wrong.  By the way, the bar of soap in your sheets does work to prevent leg cramps! 

Releasing that April 15th Anger

There are a lot of angry people out there and that's no surprise, given the state of the economy.  One of the biggest complaints, according to what I've seen in the media, is that we pay too much taxes.  As I consider myself a pro when it comes to rationalizing to make myself feel better, these are my thoughts on the subject:

Before I say anything further, promise me you won't stop reading until you get to the end.  Give yourself a chance and you might feel better at the end, who knows?  Anything that takes some anger/stress away is certainly worth a couple of minutes.

One thing people say regarding taxes is, "I work hard for my money and why should I give so much to the government who then gives it to lazy freeloaders?!  Let them work for the money!!"  That's an ideal that we are getting farther and farther away from because of technology.  If you embrace the advances of technology then I'm sorry to say that there will probably be more and more "freeloaders" who are left jobless.  I think it's hypocritical to buy iPads and flat screen TV's and yet expect a factory to operate using "ancient" 20th century machinery where 100 factory workers are needed rather than 21st century automation and 20 workers.  What do we seriously expect the unemployed to do?  The employed and the wealthy, IMHO, may have to get used to the idea that they have to carry their less fortunate brothers and sisters if they can't find "busy work" for them.

Not only are jobs disappearing because of technological advances, but because of outsourcing, which I have mixed feelings about.  While I like to fantasize about global well-being and beautiful chiffon blouses for $7.99, another part of me wants outsourcing to be illegal so that Americans do have more jobs.  Of course making outsourcing illegal will make corporations unhappy.  Those wealthy executives would have to sell their private jets and shareholders--who have something in common with the unemployed because they get money by doing pretty much nothing--will not stick around if their dividends shrink.

If you're feeling resentful because your hard-earned income is being wasted on "lazy drug addicts," or "women who keep having babies," try asking yourself if you'd change places with them.  Do you honestly feel they've got it better than we do?  There might be that rare case of welfare fraud where yes, they do have it better, but these criminals often get caught.  I believe there are probably many more crooked "employed" people.  After all, supposedly the employed people are much more intelligent as a whole than the unemployed.  I won't name names, I'm sure you've heard of the shenanigans going on in the banking industry, corporate world, politics, etc.

We like to think that America is the land of opportunity where a person can go from rags to riches, but realistically the majority of the poor stay poor.  It's easy to say "I studied hard in school, went to college, work hard in my career, so why can't everyone do the same?"  The reality is not everyone has the same spirit, brains, environment, and opportunity.  Jordan, for instance, is one of those "freeloaders" who is unable to work. I wonder if anyone would to change places with her?  She wishes she had a job, but jobs for the abled are scarce, much less for the disabled.

There is a lot of waste in our government at every level, I agree.  There are bureaucrats with pure intentions who want to do the right thing, but "the right thing" is subjective.  Taxes are spent by people some of whose intentions are good and others whose intentions are selfish.  That, coupled with the reality that some from each group don't know what the hell they're doing (ever tried reading some of those bills?) yields an imperfect system.  Just thinking of this makes some people not want to vote...or pay taxes.
 
Paying taxes should make us grateful we have income and are able to give, rather than having to live day to day at the mercy of angry complaining taxpayers and politicians who are trying to figure out exactly whom to please in order to keep their jobs.

This attitude may seem simplistic and too passive, but I do admire those who get involved trying to make positive changes.  In the short term, I just find it least stressful to rationalize and accept.

I'd like to think those sign-wielding ladies in the photo above agree with me because they sure look happy rather than angry.  It's probably because deep inside they know they are fortunate to have an income to pay tax from.  *Ducking for cover*

P.S.  If the above did nothing for you, check out the tax rates internationally and maybe you won't feel as bad.

What I Learned This Spring Break

I mentioned in my previous post, "What I Did This Spring Break," that the three of us got a weird virus.  Ordinarily when we get a cold or flu it doesn't last long (0-3 days) because I use an arsenal of virus-killing weapons:  yogurt, Zicam, and grapefruit seed extract.  I haven't had a bad sore throat for years and I credit the Zicam and GFSE for this, since as soon as I feel that scratchy throat, I use my sprays and the sore throat doesn't materialize.  This time, however, nothing seemed to work and I was forced to endure a bad sore throat for over a week.  I even went to the doctor to make sure it wasn't strep.

Another strange thing about this virus was that it affected us all differently.  Leonard had a cough that lasted for three weeks,  I had my very sore throat (no other symptoms), and Jordan had the more typical cold symptoms.  I heard from others that indeed this virus was going around and Leonard's version was typical: a cough that lasted for weeks, even months!  (Very possibly my use of Zicam and GFSE prevented the virus from infecting my lungs?)

Ho hum, boring right?  Well what I really want to share here is that I have possibly found a very valuable anti-microbial solution called MMS.  My sister had told me about this a couple of months ago and I didn't feel any need for it, thinking my trusty GFSE was just as good.  Uh huh...one week of painful swallowing was the tipping point and I was ready to try MMS, which frankly smells like chorine bleach. (It is NOT chlorine bleach, I assure you!)

Long story short,  I took two doses (6 drops then 2 drops 2 hours later) that night, and my sore throat was GONE the next day.  Coincidence?  Possibly.  Meanwhile, Leonard still had his persistant cough and was fed up...and willing to try anything.  I gave him a 6 then 4 dose.  Next day his cough was pretty much gone (meaning just occasional as opposed to constant).  Another possible coincidence?    So how's this:  Jordan came down with another cold on Monday--after being fully recovered for 3 weeks from the first one.  I first gave her Oscillococcinum which is an expensive homeopathic remedy sold at Long's and WalMart and which has excellent customer reviews online.  After 3 doses Monday, she showed minimal improvement on Tuesday.  Finally Tuesday afternoon, still no improvement so I decided to give her the MMS (4 drops twice in 2 hours).  By the evening she was back to normal and today happily went back to Easter Seals.  Third coincidence??  Or....CURE!?

I won't go into details about this solution except to urge you to do your own research.  With so much talk these days about scary viruses and antibiotic-resistant bacteria,  I feel much safer with MMS in the house.  I don't plan to do the full-on program they recommend for complete detox because that would require more careful research, but having seen three "coincidences,"  I consider this a keeper for occasional use.  I did do a lot of reading online about the product and it has its detractors, but nothing convincing enough to change my mind.

At $16-$20 a bottle (depending on the site) I don't feel this is a "scam," especially since you use just a few drops at a time and more so when Jim Humble gives you the recipe if you're inclined to make it yourself.  Considering the price of antibiotics these days, their decreasing effectiveness, and their potentially debilitating side effects (my mother still has blurred vision from her reaction to Bactrim last summer), it's totally worth looking into MMS. 

Again, I recommend looking up any prescription drug at AskaPatient.com .  I was considering taking Fosamax after seeing poor results on my third bone density scan, but seeing 882 patient reviews averaging 1.5 out of 5, I have to reconsider!

If you're wondering if there's a similar website to see what others have to say about "natural" remedies, there is!  Go to EarthClinic.com and you can look up MMS there also.  You can also leave your own testimonials on any natural remedy, such as Apple Cider Vinegar, etc.

Lastly, someone emailed me that "cough when you're having a heart attack" Powerpoint that I've received before.  It's a good practice to research any of these forwarded email claims on Snopes.com to see if the claim is true or false.  In this case it's labeled "false" even though it's partially true.  According to Snopes' research, coughing can help only in very limited cases and can do more harm if you're not one of those cases.  The better advice is to chew some aspirin and sit up quietly and wait for help.

Remember,  I'm no doctor, I just like to pass on my health findings in order to help my busy readers!  Subscribe to Mercola.com's newsletters for even more useful health info!

FYI, in case you're wondering, no, I don't get paid for any of these products or links I post here...darn.

What I Did This Spring Break

Ok, I know I say at the top of the page that everyone's much busier than I am, but once again I've managed to somehow neglect my blog for three weeks.   I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry....I'm sorry (I think I now have FOUR regular readers!)

I was in Honolulu for a week and had a mystery virus for a week also.  Which would you like to hear about first?  Ok Honolulu.

We try to go to Honolulu every March to visit our moms, although now I'm thinking since Jordan's not in school anymore, we should switch this to May (Mother's Day!).  On the other hand, I'm glad we went last week because I was finally able to attend the Kaimuki High School Foundation's annual fundraising dinner.  I was so indecisive about attending that I finally made up my mind and went an hour late.  Next time I'll go on time because I missed a very good silent auction.  (Happily, however, I was still able to bid on and win a very nice Fossil cuff bracelet for Jordan that others had somehow overlooked!)  

I admit I had reservations about attending the event because, after all, it was like attending a class reunion.  In going late, I missed the social hour and arrived just in time for dinner.  If you're like me, you want to go a reunion to see what other people look like after 30+ years, but not have to be seen yourself and more so, not having to talk to others much.  I once took a personality test in college and came out exactly in the middle of extravert/introvert so this obviously explains my wanting to go to a social event without having to socialize!  At any rate, it was an enjoyable evening and congratulations to my classmates, Steven Nakashima and Dale Yashiki and the rest of the foundation's board and committee for all of their hard work, which resulted in a record turnout this year and benefits the students of Kaimuki High.

Speaking of reunions, another mission I accomplished while in Honolulu was to hold a family reunion planning meeting. This will be our second family reunion and this time we're turning it up a notch by having it fully catered.  Borrowing from the Edayan Family Reunions, we're planning to have seven posterboard photo galleries on display for everyone to linger over rather than just the usual slideshow where you see a hundred relatives in ten minutes... "Was that my great great grandma--or great great grandpa?!"

Because I've always envied those food judges on "Iron Chef," I suggested having a dessert competition at the reunion.  Not that we'll critique the entries like in the TV show, though--we do have to live with each other afterwards, after all!  We'll probably do the anonymous voting method to avoid family feuds.

We did two "tourist" things this trip that we haven't done in ages: We went to the Pali Lookout since Jordan's never been there--yeh smart, three people getting over colds visiting the windiest spot on Oahu---and secondly, visited Chinatown.  I haven't been there for a few years and it's been even longer for Leonard.  He said it was like visiting a third world country and suddenly Andrew Zimmerman came to mind, but we didn't see any "street food," sadly.  But WOW, rats or no rats (I did look for rat bites on the sweet potatoes), I'd like to go back there next time and I wish we had Chinatown on Kauai.  It would certainly expand my cooking repetoire which seems to be limited to 10 dishes.

When you live on Kauai, even if you watch TV as much as I do, you don't get the full impact of what the world is coming to...until you go from Chinatown where you see homeless ladies sleeping on the cement sidewalk to Ala Moana Shopping Center.  Yep, we love Makai Market, Shirokiya, Sears, and Longs, but the newer shops are pretty much beyond our comprehension.  "What?!  A whole store just for Swaroski crystals?!"  "What!? A whole store of TEA?!"   We walked along the new upper level of the mall passing all those snotty one-brand boutiques, following young ladies in perfectly-fitted jeans with perfectly-matched accessories and I remembered how my friend Carol and I would spend the day at Ala Moana when we were 12 years old in striped "surfer t-shirts" and shorts, with straw bags and slippers to accessorize.

We were headed back to the parking lot and as a parting shot, the last shopper I saw had two matched red strollers unlike anything I'd ever seen before.  They were unusual because they were completely covered, the front with a window of netting.  I looked in as I passed and saw that each held an identical white lap dog.   "That's it,"  I declared to Leonard.  "The world IS ending in 2012...or at the very least, the United States is going DOWN!" I was never good in History, but I do recall that in more than one instance a civilization's peak ripeness was followed by decadence (as in "overripe fruit falling to the ground").  Check out this article for some points to ponder before voting this year.  Don't worry, it's not touting any particular political party, just points out what fallen civilizations have in common, thus giving us a lot to consider at this crucial time.

Because we were all getting over our colds, we didn't have much of an appetite, but we nevertheless managed to drag ourselves to the following eateries:

The Ranchhouse in Kapahulu--- The first thing I thought when I sat down was "Where's the BREADSTICKS?!" All I remember about the old Ranchhouse in Aina Haina was how I loved the breadsticks.  My mom pointed their absence out to the waiter who probably hadn't even been born when the old Ranchhouse was popular.  The food was a bit pricey, but we ordered the Ohana Meal which was a good deal and although the menu said "feeds 2 adults and 2 children," we ordered 2 meals and fed 6 adults (two men, four ladies) plus we took home a loaded plate.  We got some extra ice cream on our dessert platter because the waiter forgot our appetizer (he was probably traumatized by our demand for breadsticks!).

Happy Days Restaurant in Kaimuki---Always good, so aptly named!!  If you like dim sum, you must try this place.  It's always packed, so go early (before noon).  My favorites are the taro gok, shrimp/chives, and the char siu pies (triangular with pastry crust). 

Fook Yuen Seafood Restaurant in McCully---If you buy an entree, you can get a lobster for $10.99.  Ask for the garlic lobster...yummmm!

Zippy's Kailua---Their small wonton mein was more than enough for me and delish!

Big City Diner---Steak pupu plate and garlic fries...even though the waitress pointedly warned me "The steak will be medium rare," it was barely pink, which was fine with us. The fries were excellent....the timing was bad since I had to go the KHS dinner just 2-3 hours later with garlic breath.  That probably made me even more introverted than usual!

Toritos in Market City---They got my sister's order wrong, but we still like this place.  Oh wait, I just remembered...the enchilada tortillas were not the usual mealy corn tortillas, but seemed to be flour instead.  Madge said no, it's corn, but at any rate, I missed the regular corn tortilla. 

By now you know how I always say my life is like a sitcom. Well it's not only because of me, but the funny characters in my life. One day while driving in Honolulu we had to decide where to eat lunch. My sister said, "Oh, there's a new Thai or Vietnamese restaurant in---" Leonard cut her off, "Naaaah, I don't like Thai!" I asked him what kind of food he felt like eating. "Hmmm...hamburger!" Naturally we ended up at Makai Market as we always do at least once every Honolulu visit.

My sister went in one direction and Leonard in the opposite direction while Jordan and I got our pizza slices at Sbarro and dim sum at the Chinese Express (formerly Patty's). We were half done eating by the time my sister and Leonard came back separately. My sister had a hamburger and fries. Leonard had a plate from the Vietnamese counter. *sigh*

After all this food talk, I can't write about our weird virus...health blog next time!!

There's Always TV!

TV talk today!

Have you seen "The Marriage Ref" yet?  The celebrity panel offers a lot of humor and from their opinions you get a glimpse into their mindsets, often surprising.  The most fun comes from the married couples themselves and they don't mean to be funny, they just are.  The things they argue about makes you go, "Gee, we're so normal compared to them, yeh?"  Hmmm, oh really?

For instance, one couple needed mediation because the husband's beloved dog died and he got it stuffed.  He intended to construct a "shrine" in their upstairs hallway (visible also from the ground floor) to display his stuffed doggie.  Happily the panel and the Marriage Ref sided with the wife and the dog will be "buried" in the attic for her husband's enjoyment only.  Check out "Fonzie" the dog and the Ridolfi's.  I think they're a funny couple!

One decision that the Marriage Ref made that is still bugging me involved five tortoises.  They're the husband's pets and yet the wife has to do most of the work caring for them.  As they live longer than human beings, she's not happy with the prospect of doing this for the rest of her life.  The Ref's decision was that she must.  She wasn't even asking her husband to get rid of them all, just a couple of them!  I'm thinking she made a tactical error by not asking to get rid of them all.  We're not talking about little turtles in a terranium.  We're talking about 70 lb. land tortoises!  [I should clarify that this couple didn't appear on the Marriage Ref show itself, but on Oprah's show when she had Jerry Seinfeld and Tom Papa on as guests.]  The Ref and Oprah agreed that it would be bad to break up the family pets, while Jerry said they're not pets because they show no expressions.  I think the wife should scoop up their poop and put it in hubby's car so he'll have a part of them with him when he goes to work.

Other arguments included a wife insisting that their "formal diningroom" be used only for Thanksgiving.  I thought that was a bit too anal and I couldn't believe the Ref ruled in her favor, although he did concede that her husband shouldn't be required to set up an "instant patio" that she ordered.  Another wife refused to let her hub install a stripper pole in their bedroom and the Ref ruled in her favor--thank goodness because a grouchy, reluctant pole dancer is a turn-off!  One husband complained about his wife who insists on flossing her teeth in bed.  This was an easy unanimous decision for the panel and the Ref, and now this stupid wife has millions of people thinking of her as "that gross teeth flosser lady").   Of course all couples got a free Caribbean cruise at the end, so maybe she thought it was worth being exposed?

We audience members sit at home and laugh at these couples as though they're from Planet Crazy but I'm sure you could all come up with arguments you've had with your spouse that are just as funny as theirs.  Not me, of course,  I'm a very reasonable, intelligent spouse who basically just gives in to my husband's ideas which are always brilliant, and vice versa. 

Other TV programs I'm watching:

American Idol (Tuesdays/Wednesdays on FOX):  No favorite yet although I do like Crystal Bowersox whom the oddsmakers are already favoring.  I also like Andrew Garcia.  Unfortunately there isn't an Adam Lambert-type contestant who makes me look forward to the show every week.  I have one wish about this show and that is I wish AI would choose the songs for the contestants. I'm sick of hearing "Wrong song, dog," and confused about the conflicting criticism of "you didn't make it your own" and "why did you change a perfectly good song." 

The Good Wife (Tuesdays on CBS):  Not only are three of the main characters among my favorite actors (Julianna Margulies, Chris Noth, and Christine Baransky), but we get a bonus in Archie Panjabi's character, Kalinda.  She's my new favorite character of all the shows I'm watching this season.  She's an intelligent, uber cool lady investigator who is often the Superwoman who saves the day.  She's also sexy without dressing constantly to show cleavage like those CSI ladies. Where so many TV series have the stereotypical Indian character who is funny/nerdy or serious/nerdy, she's one Indian who is the antithesis of those characters except that they kept in the intelligent part.  (Not that I don't love those comical characters such as Raj on "The Big Bang").

Dancing With the Stars (Mondays/Tuesdays on ABC):  They haven't started yet, but I'm 99% sure Evan Lysacek will win or at least come in second. This man lives for training and from an interview he did after winning his ice-skating gold medal, it's obvious he is very goal-oriented.  Not to mention the fact that three Olympians have already won DWTS (Kristi Yamaguchi, Apolo Ohno, and Shawn Johnson). Assuming he's as good as I think he'll be, the only reason he may not win is if the voters have an issue with him, if you know what I mean.  I think Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls will also be in the finals.  Every year when they announce the celebrity line-up I hope that there won't be anyone I care to watch so there'd be one less show for me to follow, and there have been years that I don't watch (such as last year), but I admit I have a lady-crush on Nicole S. and I love ice skaters soooo looks like I'll be doing the AI/DTWS juggle on Tuesday nights. 

Anthony Bourdain/No Reservations and Andrew Zimmerman/Bizarre Foods (Mondays on the Travel Channel):  I used to want to travel, but was too lazy to go anywhere except Honolulu and Las Vegas.  I'm still lazy, but I no longer feel the urge to travel because of these two guys.  I can pretty much live vicariously through them because they fill my "exotic food" need.  Even if I went to the same countries they visit I wouldn't be able to eat what they do because they have inside info and connections I don't.  Well anyway, that's how I'm justifying sitting on my behind watching TV instead of traveling to the food bazaars of Istanbul.  That and saving $5000.

 Dr. Oz (10:00 a.m. daily on ABC):  Even if you don't watch daytime TV, you should try to watch this (record it) because you'd benefit from information you'll hear.  What's great about Dr. Oz is he embraces both allopathic and naturopathic medicine.

The Middle (Wednesdays on ABC):  I like this new sitcom and haven't been able to watch it because of the Olympics and AI.  I had stopped watching family sitcoms because they started to annoy me with their usual hot wife, un-hot husband, and bratty kids.  I didn't intend to watch The Middle, but somehow saw an episode and was hooked by that cute little (literally little) son, dopey insecure daughter, and also dopey older son.  I love atypical, especially because these odd kids are quite appealing in their own ways.  Patricia Heaton's mom character in "The Middle" is not half as capable and self-assured a mom as Debra Romano was, and thank goodness that Scrub's crazed maintenance man (actor Neil Flynn) is now a pretty average, though typically clueless dad.  I like that according to what I've seen so far, this show is funny without the husband and wife constantly battling each other.

I'm also still into Law and Order, CSI, Ugly Betty (cancelled!), Desperate Housewives, Glee, and Lost.  I'm trying not to watch anything new because I'm trying to watch less television.  If you think I'm watching a lot now, you should've seen me a few years ago when I would be watching one show and recording two others!  I rarely have to record anything these days and still wonder why a TVholic like myself can find too much to watch on "Budget Basic" cable ($13/month, approx. two dozen channels) and yet most people have more than double the choice and seem to watch less TV than we do.  Well, as Bruce Springsteen sings: "57 Channels and Nothing On" !

Cakes and Caked Blood

I saw a segment on KITV news last night which led me to this website where I spent a half hour ogling cakes.  Kailua's Cake Lava's designer/owner Rick Reichart will be competing on the Food Network April 4th in a cake challenge.  Here are two of the hundreds of cakes pictured on the website. 
 

The cake on the left is one of my favorites and the handbag below is also a cake!  Amazing!  Who would want to slice up and eat such works of art?  Me!!  I was reading the page devoted to "flavors" verrrry carefully and if anyone's ordering one of these cakes for me, I'd like the Hawaii Five-O:  Chunky pineapple cake layers with fresh bananas, mango curd, coconut cream, and shredded coconut. 

And take a look at this leopard skin handbag.  It looks like maybe it belongs to one of their clients--because obviously these cakes are not in the Costco Bakery price range!   It's kind of funny to think of eating a purse, but I swear there's a photo of a toilet cake on their site!  I wonder if they put a chocolate lumpy something in the toilet.  Ewwww!

Now this next topic I wanted to bring up is not funny like a toilet cake, but icky also.  I may or may not have mentioned that I've been reading Tess Gerritsen books lately.   I was very excited to find another medical thriller author because they're one of my favorite genres.  After reading her first two I went out and borrowed four more.  She's one of those writers whose books you can't put down and I soon realized that she isn't necessarily a medical thriller writer even though the original two I read ("Harvest" and "Life Support") were medical thrillers. 

The second set of books and I believe the majority of her books are serial murder thrillers and as far as I can see, all involve the kidnapping, torture and murder of women.  Although I wanted to stop reading once I realized this, I found myself attached to her recurring characters (a female detective and a female medical examiner) and so I kept reading, often skipping over the icky parts--and there was a lot of skipping because the gory details were not spared.  I admit I was disturbed that this wonderfully talented writer was abusing women.  This series, incidentally, is being developed into a TV series starring Angie Harmon and I hope it won't be as dark because I love Angie!

I have a whole shopping bag of paperbacks from a relative.  I looked through the bag because I needed a respite from the mental images of Gerritsen's women who've been sliced and diced, mummified, decapitated, and peat-pickled.  Ok, this J.A. Jance book, "Day of the Dead," looked interesting because it seemed similar to a Tony Hillerman novel set on a Native American reservation.  Cool!  Ohhhkay,  a chapter or so in I  realized that young girls were being tortured, raped, murdered and cut into pieces by J.A. Jance.  Once again, however, I was already sucked into the book because of good storytelling and a need to see justice done. 

This was not the first bag of books I'd received from friends or relatives and in the past I weeded through them and tossed out the "stalking" books--often half the bag!  It now dawned on me that there are way too many books written by women about the stalking, torture, raping, and murdering of females and what's more astounding is that these authors (Gerritsen, J.A. Jance, Jordan Dane, Tami Hoag, and Lisa Jackson to name a few) are bestsellers.  So my question is why do women like to write and read this stuff?? It's unsettling to think that women are entertained by this violence against other females, albeit fictional characters.  (Since none of Leonard's friends bring him boxes of books, I'm going to guess that women, not men, are buying and reading these books.)  Are there any psychologists out there who will comment on this phenomenon?  Meanwhile, it's back to Maeve Binchy and Janet Evanovitch for me---if only they'd hurry up and write more books.

Want to hear something creepy?   Yesterday I was reading that J.A. Jance book where a woman kills her husband's young sex slaves (whom she supplies him with) and chops them up.  Despite enjoying reading everything in the book except the parts involving the violence, I was feeling understandably disturbed and decided to stop for a while.  I looked at the clock and noticed the Oprah Winfrey Show was half through and turned on the TV.  Lisa Ling was discussing how young women in China were having surgery to add a couple of inches to their height by having surgeons break their legs.  You guessed it, they had to show us the surgery and that's exactly when I tuned in: camera focused on skinny legs in metal frames being cut up.  I sat there wondering if I was being sent a message.

So readers, if I should suddenly disappear and I'm found in pieces, it won't be a total loss.  I'm thinking my blog will finally get read by more than the three of you!