Kermit Love, Costume Creator, Dies at 91

Who? Yes thats the right! The co creator behind “Sesame Street” characters Big Bird and Mr. Snuffleupagus, died on Saturday in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He was 91 and lived in Stanfordville, N.Y.

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12 Things You May Not Know About the Nobel Prizes

1) Technically, the prize awarded in Economics is not a Nobel Prize, as it was not specified in Alfred Nobel's will. It has been nicknamed the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, and is selected by the same committee that selects the physics and chemistry prizes, but has only been awarded since 1969. It is award in memory of Alfred Nobel.

2)Nomination records are sealed for fifty years, and except for "leaks" in the process, the nominees are not publicly acknowledged. Agents and publicists will often tout a person's nomination, but until the records are unsealed fifty years later, there is no way to confirm or deny this.
In a related story, I've been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the past several years. :)

3)Nominations for the Nobel Prizes can only be made for living persons. However, should a person die after their nomination, they can still be awarded a Nobel Prize. This has occurred two times, most recently in 1961 when Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary-General of the United Nations, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously, after dying in a plane crash in Africa.

4) Provided that the individual is living at the time of the nomination, anyone can be nominated. Incredulously, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Joseph Stalin were all nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize!

5) Amazingly, the person probably most likely to have deserved the Nobel Peace Prize was never awarded one. Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi, Indian leader who advocated non-violence in the struggle for Indian independence from colonial rule, never won the award. He was nominated five times, but failed each time. He was assassinated just two days before the nominations for the 1948 prize were due, which, since he was deceased, disqualified him from the nomination and, therefore, the prize.
The Nobel Peace Prize Committee considered selecting Gandhi for the award in spite of the rules, but because he left no legal heirs, they were not sure of who to award the prize to. Instead, the committee elected to withhold the award that year, stating that "there was no suitable living candidate" for the award, a clear reference to the recently-deceased Gandhi.

6) Winning a Nobel Prize will bring lasting fame throughout one's lifetime. Pity poor William Vickrey, who, just 3 days after being selected for the 1996 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, was found slumped over the steering wheel of his car, dead of an apparent heart attack.

7)Some prizes are awarded to technology that on later review just doesn't seem to pan out. Consider Antonio Moniz's 1949 Nobel Prize in Medicine for leukotomy, the brain-altering operation that was the forerunner of pre-frontal lobotomies.

8)Likewise, the award given to Johannes Fibiger wasn't very prescient. His 1926 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was for discovering that parasites had caused cancerous tumors in laboratory mice, prompting many to believe a cure for cancer was just around the corner. The trouble was, upon further review, the tumors were caused by simple vitamin deficiencies.

9)Julius Wagner von Jauregg won the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery that, by purposely injecting syphilitic patients with fever-causing malaria, the patients were sometimes cured. Sometimes, however, the malaria cure was as bad as the original illness.

10)Not all Nobel Peace Prize recipients have backgrounds in diplomacy or political science. For example, the 1970 winner, Norman Borlaug, won for his efforts in plant pathology/genetics which led to better worldwide food supplies, and, so the argument went, a more peaceful world.

11)The United Nations' Peacekeeping forces have won the Nobel Peace Prize, even though rapes, bribery, bullying, and other crimes have been allegedly committed by the so-called peace keepers.

12)At least one Nobel Peace Prize recipient has admitted to embellishing her autobiography, which had obviously helped her to win the prize. Rigoberta Menchú, native of Guatemala and 1992 recipient, acknowledged making changes in her autobiography I, Rigoberta Menchú that details atrocities performed by guerrilla forces in her native Guatemala. While her cause is just, her augmentation of her background, exposed by researcher David Stoll, has given a black eye to her cause. In an effort to ease the situation, the Nobel Prize committee has since declared that her award was not based solely on her autobiography, but on the aggregate of her efforts.

Keep Your Ties In Tip Top Shape

A nice tie can bring a whole outfit together. They also allow you to easily diversify your wardrobe simply by mixing and matching ties with different shirts and suits. But ties are delicate. If you don’t take care of them, they can easily become worn and tattered. Instead of being a punctuation point to a sharp suit, an unkept tie will make you look dopey. Here’s a short run down on how to care for your ties.

Untying your Ties
Care should be taken when removing your tie. After a long day of work, I know you probably just want to get the damn thing off. But fight the temptation to pull the thin end of the tie through the knot. While this is the easiest way to get your tie off, it ruins the shape of the tie in the process. If you want to make your ties last, remove your ties by following the tie-tying steps in reverse.

Storing Your Ties
When putting away a tie, many men roll them up, stuff them in a drawer, or lay them over a chair. But ties are made of delicate fabric and are extremely impressionable. So as soon as the tie comes off, drape it over a coat hanger or closet rack. Hanging your ties properly makes it easier for the creases and folds from a knot to fall out.
A nice tie rack is a good investment. Tie racks make storing and organizing your ties much easier. The Executive Ladder is a nice quality rack that sells for under $15. Spend a little on a rack now, and save money in the long run by making your ties last.
When traveling, fold your ties into fours and place them in your coat pocket. That will help maintain your ties’ shape while traveling.

Cleaning Your Ties
A small stain can ruin any tie. Use care while eating with a tie on to avoid getting food on it. If you do stain your tie, take action quickly. Blot the stain with cold water as this prevents it from setting. Seltzer water or club soda works best. If you get any greasy materials on your tie (like juice from that medium rare steak you’re eating), water won’t do. Get some talcum powder on your tie ASAP. The powder will absorb the grease. After a few hours, brush off the remaining residue and clean with a soft cloth.
If you take your ties into a dry cleaner, specifically request that they don’t press your ties. Most dry cleaners do, but ironing a tie presses down on its rolled edges and ruins its shape.

Removing Wrinkles from Your Ties
As mentioned above, ironing ties should be avoided. But it’s inevitable that your ties will start to wrinkle. The best way to get the wrinkles out without ruining your tie in the process is using steam. For easy wrinkles, simply hanging your tie in the bathroom while you take a hot shower will do the trick. For more stubborn wrinkles, consider purchasing a hand held steamer. Conair makes several good ones for a decent price. A couple of passes with this baby and your wrinkles are gone.

Tie Tacks
Tie tacks are nice because they keep your tie in place and out of your food. However, tie tacks leave holes in the fabric of your tie. To avoid these holes, insert the tie tack through the fabric keeper on the back and then through your shirt. No holes, but your tie will be kept in place.

Thirsty Light digital moisture meter

Thirsty Light digital moisture meter uses a patented process to actually interpret the readings it gets, and gives you a far more precise measurement of the dryness of the potting medium. No cryptic readings to gauge - if your plant needs water, the head of the Thirsty Light blinks. It's really that easy.

Features

• Drypoint Digital Circuit
• Long-lasting LED
• Corrosion resitant Brass Probe
• 2 replaceable 1.5V Lithium batteries
• ABS plastic casing
• On/Off switch
  

The Only Digital Camera Swim Mask.

This is the worlds only swim mask that has an integrated waterproof digital camera, eliminating the need to carry an underwater camera, keeping your hands free as you swim. The 5 MP camera can operate to a depth of 15’, making it ideal for use when snorkeling or in swimming pools. The masks eye pieces are made of tempered glass and have integrated crosshairs that allow you to line up shots easily; simply press the shutter button to take pictures or videos. An LED inside the mask tells you if you are in still picture or video mode.

Check out the link for more info
http://www.hammacher.com/publish/75126.asp?cm_mmc=CJ-_-1408768-_-1830967-_-Hammacher+Schlemmer

World's dirtiest cities

The list has been compiled by Forbes basis Mercer Human Resource Consulting's 2007 Health and Sanitation rankings that ranked 215 cities worldwide based on levels of air pollution, waste management, water potability, hospital services, medical supplies and the presence of infectious diseases. Here are the top 10:

1) Baku, Azerbaijan
2) Dhaka, Bangladesh
3) Antananarivo, Madagascar
4) Port Au Prince, Haiti
5) Mexico City, Mexico
6) Addis Ababa. Ethiopia
7) Mumbai, India
8) Baghdad, Iraq
9) Almaty, Kazakhstan
10)Brazzaville, Congo

SNEAK PEAK: The New London Heathrow Airport (LHR) Terminal 5

20 most expensive streets in England and Wales

Top 5 streets are listed below:

1 Courtenay Avenue, N6: average property value - £6,803,900
2 Chelsea Square, SW3: average property value - £6,440,600
3 Manresa Road, SW3: average property value - £6,193,300
4 Ilchester Place, W14: average property value - £5,840,200
5 Gilston Road, SW10: average property value - £5,584,100

check out this link for the rest
http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article3392631.ece

Monster Inc.

Found this funny website (i know its old...but I still think its great) Little kids draw pictures...then artists finilaize the drawings

Check out the rest
http://www.themonsterengine.com/art.html

Food for thought

Pomegranate

This fall fruit has higher antioxidant activity than red wine and green tea, which may be why a number of studies show it may prevent skin cancer and kill breast and prostate cancer cells. It also helps:

Fight Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at Loma Linda University found that mice who drank pomegranate juice experienced 50% less brain degeneration than animals that consumed only sugar water. The pomegranate drinkers also did better in mazes and tests as they aged.

Guard your arteries

A group of diabetics who drank about 2 ounces of pomegranate juice a day for 3 months kept their bodies from absorbing bad cholesterol into their immune system cells (a major contributing factor to hardened arteries), discovered Israeli researchers.

By Denise Foley, Prevention magazine

Kiwifruit

Protect against free radical damage
A study from Rutgers University compared the 27 most popular fruits and determined that kiwifruit was the most nutritionally dense. Plus, it makes the short list of fruits with substantial amounts of vitamin E, and contains more vision-saving lutein than any other fruit or vegetable, except for corn.

Lower blood-clot risk
In a 2004 study from the University of Oslo in Norway, participants who ate two or three kiwis for 28 days significantly reduced their potential to form a clot. They also got a bonus benefit: Their triglycerides, a blood fat linked to heart attack, dropped by 15%.

Barley

When some whole grains, such as wheat and oats, are processed, they lose their fiber content. Not so with barley, which is full of soluble beta-glucan fiber in its whole kernel or refined flour form. Studies show this particular fiber may:

Knock down bad cholesterol—by as much as 17.4%, according to USDA research
A 2004 study found that adults with moderately high cholesterol levels who went on a low-fat American Heart Association diet began to see an improvement only when barley was added to the menu.

Decrease blood sugar and insulin levels
That makes barley a better choice for people with type 2 diabetes, says a 2005 Agricultural Research Services study.

Cranberry

This born-and-bred American berry is among the top 10 antioxidant-rich foods, making it a potent cancer protector. You know it helps treat urinary tract infection, and perhaps you heard it prevents gum disease, too, but did you know that these beneficial berries may:

Eradicate E. coli
Compounds in the juice can actually alter antibiotic-resistant strains, making it impossible for the harmful bacteria to trigger an infection. A small pilot study from Harvard Medical School and Rutgers University found that eating about 1/3 cup of dried cranberries yielded the same effect.

Help prevent strokes
Research on pigs with a genetic predisposition to atherosclerosis—narrow, hardened arteries that may lead to heart attack and stroke—found that those fed dried cranberries or juice every day had healthier, more flexible blood vessels.

Broccoli Sprouts

Yes, we've been through this—broccoli, good. The news: Broccoli sprouts are even better. At a mere 3 days old, they contain at least 20 times as much of disease-fighting sulforaphane glucosinolate (SGS) as their elders; SGS has been shown to:

Kill tumors
The chemical triggers enzymes in the body that either kill cancer cells or keep them from growing. Just 1 ounce of sprouts has as much SGS as 1 1/4 pounds of broccoli. That'll save you lots of chewing.


Protect your heart
People who ate about a half cup a day of sprouts lowered their total cholesterol by an average of 15 points, and women in the study raised their good cholesterol by 8 points—in just 1 week, found a Japanese pilot study.

Save your sight
Exposure to UV sunlight over time may lead to an eye condition called macular degeneration, which is the number one cause of blindness in US seniors. Researchers at Johns Hopkins determined that broccoli sprouts can protect retinal cells from ultraviolet light damage.

Kefir

This cultured milk drink stacks up in calcium—one 8-ounce serving contains 30% of the recommended daily intake—and contains more beneficial bacteria than yogurt. It may also:

Reduce food allergies
Baby mice fed kefir had a threefold reduction in the amount of an antibody linked to food allergies, say researchers at an agricultural university.

Battle breast cancer
Women age 50 and older who consumed fermented milk products had a lower risk than those who ate little or none.

Avoid triggering lactose intolerance
Kefir contains lactase, the enzyme that people with lactose intolerance are missing, say researchers at Ohio State University. And the taste? Like plain yogurt, just a little thinner.

source:msn

The most amazing thing I've seen online!

Check out this website

http://www.nikon.co.jp/main/eng/feelnikon/discovery/universcale/index_f.htm

It puts the entire universe into proportion, from the smallest particle to the largest measurements of space.

It takes some time to get the hang of it, but truely amazing!

Please note you need flash to work the program.

Alot of people didn't know that....

Some strange and interesting stuff I never knew....bring on Trivia Pursuit!!

• If NASA sent birds into space they would soon die beacuase they need gravity to swallow.
• A peanut is not a nut; it is a legume.
• Grapes explode when you put them in the microwave.
• The plastics on the end of showlaces are called aglets.
• The "ZIP" in Zip code stands for "Zone Improvement Plan"
• On every continent there is city called Rome.
• The tall chef's hat is called a toque.
• A pregnant goldfish is called a twit <---- my fav one...lol