Saturday, December 31, 2005

HOW TO STAY YOUNG-George Carlin

Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the
doctor worry about them. That is why you pay him/her.

Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down. learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever.

Never let the brain idle. " An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And
the devil's name is Alzheimer's

Enjoy the simple things.

Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our
entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it.
If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity. AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Friday, December 30, 2005

Speaking Out On The Times

The U.S. government can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she sleeps in the state of Washington, and determine exactly what that cow ate.
They can also track her calves right to their stalls, and tell you what kind of feed they ate.
But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around in their country, including people that are trying to blow up important structures in the U.S!

The Census Bureau says:
The number of Americans in poverty and without health insurance each rose by more than 1 million in 2003.
The median household income was virtually unchanged, but women lost ground against men for the first time since 1999.
The number of Americans in poverty rose by 1.3 million to 35.9 million, or one in eight people. The number of Americans without health insurance rose by 1.4 million to 45 million, or 15.6% of the population. Both sets of figures rose for the third-straight year.
The income of the median U.S. household was virtually flat at $43,318 after a two-year decline. The gap between rich and poor also was basically unchanged.
The Census report also showed:
•Income fell among Hispanics and whites, and the "gender gap" widened. The median full-time female worker made 75.5 cents for every dollar earned by a man, down from 76.6 cents in 2002.
•Poverty increased among whites and Asians, and at the fastest pace in a decade among children. It did not significantly change for Hispanics and blacks. The 2003 poverty level for a family of four: $18,660.
•Health insurance coverage dropped among almost all major demographic and geographic groups.
Among presidential battleground states, income fell significantly in Arizona, Arkansas and Pennsylvania but rose in Washington and West Virginia.

Comments made by sports commentators that I'm sure they would like to take back:
1. Weightlifting commentator at the Olympic Snatch and Jerk Event: "This is Gregoriava from Bulgaria. I saw her snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing."
2. Ted Walsh - Horse Racing Commentator: "This is really a lovely horse and I speak from personal experience since I once mounted her mother."
3. Grand Prix Race Announcer: "The lead car is absolutely, truly unique, except for the one behind it which is exactly identical to the one in front of the similar one in back."
4. Greg Norman, Pro Golfer: "I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father."
5. Ringside Boxing Analyst: "Sure there have been injuries and even some deaths in boxing - but none of them really that serious."
6. Baseball announcer: "If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again."
7. Basketball analyst: "He dribbles a lot and the opposition doesn't like it. In fact you can see it all over their faces."
8. At a trophy ceremony BBC TV Boat Race 1988: "Ah, isn't that nice, the wife of the Cambridge president is hugging the cox of the Oxford crew."
9. Metro Radio, College Football: "Julian Dicks is everywhere. It's like they've got eleven Dicks on the field."
10. US Open TV Commentator: "One of the reasons Arnie Palmer is playing so well is that, before each final round, his wife takes out his balls and kisses them. Oh my God, what have I just said?"

Johns Hopkins Newsletter recently sent this out…
Dioxin Carcinogens cause cancer. Especially breast cancer.
Don't freeze plastic water bottles with water in them as this also releases dioxin from the plastic. Dr. Edward Fujimoto from Castle Hospital was on a TV program explaining this health hazard. (He is the manager of the Wellness Program at the hospital.) He was talking about dioxins and how bad they are for us.
He said we should not heat our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This applies particularly to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Dioxin are carcinogens and highly toxic to the cells of our bodies. Instead, he recommends using glass, Corning Ware, or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results ...without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. Just safer to use tempered glass , Corning Ware, etc.
Remember when some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper? The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.
To add to this: Saran wrap placed over foods as they are nuked, with the high heat, actually drips poisonous toxins into the food, use paper towels instead.

My wife tells her friends that my home office is a mess---completely disorganized.
Not true, like most men, I AM organized...but in a different way.

I was truly surprised by the following; the kid has truly turned out to be a deep thinker.

Toby Keith tells the Los Angeles Times that his hit The Angry American may not accurately portray his complex feelings on war.
"People think because of the song, I just bang the war drum at every chance---but that's not me," he said. "It's OK to be antiwar, until the war starts. Then you support the troops."
"Look, my stance is I pick and choose my wars. This war here (Iraq), the math hasn't worked out for me on it. But I'm smart enough to know there's people smarter than me. (National security adviser) Condoleezza Rice, (Secretary of State) Colin Powell, George Bush — this is their job, and I have to trust in them. I support the commander in chief and the troops." The Times story says that Toby then paused for a while before continuing.
"I was for Afghanistan, 100%. We got struck and the Taliban needed to be exterminated, but this war here, in Iraq, I didn't necessarily have it all worked out. It didn't work out for me. I know a tyrant is gone and all of that, but whether it was our duty to go do that, well, I haven't figured that out."
Toby went on to say his fight with Natalie Maines of The Dixie Chicks is over---"We had fun with it, but I'm just done with it."

Is it an old wives tale that people don't dream in color?
It's a bunch of bunk.
Dreams are very mysterious and difficult to study. But there is no reason why you can't dream in color. You can close your eyes and envision most any object in your mind or even sing to yourself. All sorts of sensations are part of the dreaming process, including images, sounds, movements and thoughts.
People who are blind from birth supposedly dream with everything but visual imagery.
Dreams seem to come from your memories, even if they make no sense.

Parade magazine's Marilyn Vos Savant, says that hearing everything about a person's life could be misleading and might cause your spouse to see you as a stereotype. It's impossible for someone who hears about your history to have enough understanding of the factors involved and to avoid drawing conclusions that are wrong or even ridiculous. Marilyn thinks that you should tell your spouse everything that he or she needs to know, but not necessarily everything they might find interesting.

Is United Nations an oxy moron?

Max Facts for December

Billboard, one of the music trades top magazines, and it’s companies have handed out the 2005 music awards.
Billboard.com says that Craig Morgan and his independent Broken Bow Record Company have the country Song of the Year honors for That's What I Love About Sunday. It is a “first” for an indie label.
The song spent 36 weeks on the chart, 17 weeks in the top 10 and four weeks at No. 1.

Rascal Flatts has been named the 2005 Country Artist of the Year by Billboard Monitor Magazine. This is the first time that a group has taken the title. All previous honors have gone to solo male artists.
The trio spent 5 weeks atop the chart with Bless the Broken Road, followed by three weeks at No. 1 with Fast Cars and Freedom.

Billboard Boxscore has given Kenny Chesney special honors---Top Country Tour. Kenny’s tour mad $63 million and had an audience of 1.1 million.

Capitol Nashville Records takes its first label of the year prize from Billboard Radio Monitor. The credit goes to the triple big years had by Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley and Trace Adkins.

American Idol winner, Carrie Underwood, has had quite a year.
The country girl next door sold 315,000 copies of her debut, Some Hearts, in its first week out of the box and finished No. 2 just behind Madonna's new album. That's the best week of sales for any new country artist.
Now Carrie has been named Oklahoman of the Year by Oklahoma Today magazine. In 1993, Garth Brooks was a winner of that award.
Carrie recently move to Nashville.

Dwight Yoakam is co-starring as a bad-guy sheriff in a movie called The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, now in theaters across the country.
The movie is directed by Tommy Lee Jones and tells the story of a ranch hand who transports a friend's corpse to Mexico for a proper burial.

The Lorrie Morgan/Sammy Kershaw Hot Chicken Shack near I-24 and Old Hickory Boulevard in Nashville is closing.
Apparently the location wasn’t generating enough traffic to keep the 5-year-old restaurant profitable.
The couple is looking for a new location closer to the downtown/Music Row area. They hope to open it in 2006.

Reba McEntire's Album Reba #1s has gone Platinum. That is her 19th Platinum award.
Martina McBride‘s album of classic country covers, Timeless, has hit platinum sales.

Brad Paisley and Gretchen Wilson came away with 4 nominations each at the 48th Grammy Awards announcement---that is the most for country artists.
Both artists are up for Best Country Song---Alcohol and All Jacked Up and Best Country Album---Time Well Wasted and All Jacked Up.

Wade Hayes may have some mixed feelings about seeing his ex-wife, Danni Boatwright, win Survivor: Guatemala on CBS.
Danni, now a radio sports talk show host in Kansas City, won the $1 million prize.

Cowboy Troy will indeed host the fourth season of USA Network's Nashville Star when it returns on March 7th, but it he’ll be teaming up with Wynonna.
Celebrity guests will join show veterans Anastasia Brown and Phil Vassar at the judges' table.

Shania Twain is giving back.
CTV in Canada reports that Shania is paying the salary for a full-time teacher at an unnamed school in Ontario, Canada.
The project provides needy children with good food, private tutoring and lessons in life-skills such as cooking, as well as academic assistance.

Kenny Chesney is ready to take you on a Caribbean experience with The Kenny Chesney Caribbean Cruise Getaway the end of February.
And get this, the Kenny Kruise is taking place on two sister ships---The Majesty Of The Seas sailing out of Miami, and The Sovereign Of The Seas departing from Port Canaveral. Once in the Atlantic, these two sister ships will converge, and sail in tandem thru the Caribbean.

The Shania Twain 2006 wall calendar is on top of Country Music Calendars list.
Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, Country Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry wall calendars round out the top 5.

Tim McGraw, with signature black cowboy hat, is on display at Madame Tussauds Las Vegas Museum.

Shania Twain has been named and officer of the Order of Canada. The award is Canada's highest civilian honor.
Timmins, Ontaria, Canada is Shani’s home town.

Toby Keith's, first movie has wrapped up production in Atlanta.
It is called Angel From Montgomery, and Toby got to work with Kelly Preston.
The story centers around a Miami newscaster, who brings her teenage daughter home to rural Montgomery, Tennessee, after a military training accident takes the lives of several town residents, including the reporter’s younger brothers.
In Montgomery, Kelly reunites with country star Bo Porter (played by Toby), the father that her daughter, Dixie has never met.
Toby also has a soundtrack album for the film and a studio album due before year's end.

There’s a recent survey out that ranks country artists most preferred by people ages 13-25. Here‘s the Top 10 List:
Rascal Flatts
Keith Urban
Kenny Chesney
Tim McGraw
Sugarland
Brad Paisley
Gretchen Wilson
Miranda Lambert
George Strait
Toby Keith