the Hawaii Chair?

Ok now this has to be the craziest new product I have seen in along time...
OK seen in forever!!!!!!

Heath Ledger Dead

Movie star Heath Ledger has been found dead in his New York apartment.

This is so sad Heath you will be missed by an entire generation, Watching the Batman movie will be a bittersweet pleasure seeing your work knowing it is your last.

Thank you for sharing your life with us if only for a short time....

Feel free to put your own condolences below.....

PPP

Well I found this site called Pay Per Post (PPP) and I decided to give it a go,
“Hey I figure how bad can it be when I am actually getting paid to post in my blog.”
I will say that since your blog has to be approved first the wait was long (2 Weeks) until my blog was approved, but other than that my experience on PPP has been good. The customer service is top notch and the directions for choosing and accepting offers is fairly straight forward.

So in the future, some of my posts here will be my reviews and thoughts of various items from websites to products. I can assure each and every one of you that faithfully read my blog I will not sell out or ever not tell you what I actually think about what ever it is I am writing about. If I don’t think that I can say something nice then like my mom always said “if you can’t say something nice then keep your mouth shut”

I would say to all the bloggers out there, hey give it a try it won’t cost you anything and if you decide to you can make a little green for doing what you already love to do.

Here is the link for all of you if you are interested.

http://payperpost.com/

get paid to blog

Apple's new Macbook air

This is a sweet new Laptop from Apple that Steve Jobs just introduced at Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco




I want one!

Whiny Cowboy Fan...

Ok it is no secret that I cannot stand the Dallas Cowboys... well it would appear that their fans are a whiny bunch just like T.O. after the game yesterday

So to the Cowboy fans out there Sorry but I just had to post this once I saw it on YouTube....

Musing #8

Taken Away
this was written a year ago while I was still on deployment...

I was looking out over the Indian Ocean this evening and I saw a beautiful sight. The sea was glassy calm. As the ship passed through the water the phosphor (photo luminescent algae) was glowing brightly in the ships wake. The phosphor was bright electric neon blue - not like in the North Atlantic where the phosphor is neon green and not nearly as bright.
As the waves crashed down and the water churned from the props the ships wake glowed a path into the inky black darkness. It glowed in the foam and created lighting bright strings rippling like plasma across the wave tops.
Then to my amazement, I could hear splashes off in the distance. At first, I could not figure out what it was, then the splashes came closer and I could see huge “blasts” of phosphor spouting into the air. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see more. Finally, I saw what caused those mini explosions in the phosphor. Dolphins were jumping the waves in our wake, merrily playing and jumping giving us an unbelievable light show to the likes few have ever seen.
Taken aback, all the days’ problems and troubles just washed away, if only for a few moments. Tonight was one of those times when I knew in my heart I belong at sea. For only a moment I was taken away, I was no longer onboard the ship I was just watching nature at it’s finest soaking in everything, the sights and sounds of the magnificent show before me. There was no better place on earth, then right here.

Musing #7

The History Of Coffee (well my speech on it at least!)



Once upon a time, Kaldi, an East African goat herder, was tending to his herd when he noticed that one goat was missing. Kaldi being a good goat herder, of course went in search of it. When he happened upon his goat, he found it eating the berries from a strange plant. Then to Kaldi’s wonder and amazement, the goat stood up on his hind legs and started dancing… This is the legend of how Coffee was discovered.

Through my obsession with coffee and the research I have done, I want to take all of you on a journey through out history. We will travel the globe and learn how coffee has had a long and sometimes tumultuous voyage from those humble beginnings to what we drink today.

Now, Let us revisit Kaldi. It was somewhere between the year 600 and 800AD when Kaldi saw his now dancing goat; he decided to try some of the berries himself. In no time at all Kaldi was dancing right along with his goat! The legend continues and it is said that a local monk happened by while they were dancing and inquired about what was going on. Well he took the berries back to the monastery to share with his fellow monks. At first, the other monks thought they the berries were evil; that was until they realized how they could stay awake during prayers and that they had more energy when doing the chores. The monks started drying the coffee cherries and crushed them to make a tea-like drink. Now there is no concrete evidence of the validity of this story and. we really don’t know how coffee was first discovered.

The early accounts we do have of coffee from “The History of Coffee” at TELLUSPLANET.NET, Originally the coffee plant grew naturally in Ethiopia, but once it was transplanted in Arabia [Yemen] coffee was monopolized by the Arabs.

Who first roasted it is debated, but the accepted belief is that the Arabs started boiling the beans (calling the drink “qahwa” literal translation is that which prevents sleep) and from there someone started roasting.

Coffee moved with the spread of Islam according to National Geographic for almost 200 years Transplant of the coffee plants was forbidden by the government. That was until a young Indian, Baba Budan smuggled out seven coffee cherries on his belly to Mysore, India and started a farm - descendents from those plants are still growing and producing coffee today!

Mark Schapiro stated in “muddy waters” that Coffee started spreading like wild fire from there and in 1453; the Ottoman Turks brought Coffee to Constantinople and there the first coffee shop “Kiva Han” opened in 1475. A new law goes into effect in Turkey making it legal for a woman to divorce her husband if he fails to provide her with her daily quota of coffee.

Continuing on in “Muddy Waters” in 1511 the corrupt governor of Mecca was threatened by the spread of coffee through out the Muslim world tried to ban coffee, He was promptly executed! Even at this early stage of coffee was just that important. People would kill for their coffee.

Around 1600 Coffee was brought before the Pope his advisors urged him to ban coffee because it was the Infidels drink. It only took him one sip for his blessing and shortly thereafter coffee started spreading throughout Europe.

The Dutch being entrepreneurs wanted in on the coffee growing business, they were not content to just be a consumer. National Geographic recounts how the first coffee plants were covertly acquired by the Dutch in 1690 and in 1696, the first European owned Coffee Estate was born on Java. And yes, this is where the Nickname Java for Coffee came from.

Now the Dutch trying to improve relations with Louis XVI (fourteenth ) of France reluctantly gave him what became one of his most cherished possessions a Coffee plant for Paris’ Botanical Garden in 1713.

Following the bush so to speak, Mark Schapiro tells us that, a seedling from the botanical garden was stolen in a midnight raid by a young French naval officer after being refused when he asked for one and in 1723 that seedling traveled to the tiny island of Martinique and shortly there after was producing more coffee than Java.

Now the final illicit step for coffee was to Brazil in 1727. Lieutenant Colonel Palheta originally sent to settle a border dispute between the French and Dutch colonies. Well he fell in love with the Governor’s wife and they plotted to become rich by spreading coffee again. Both the French and the Dutch wanted to like the Arabs before them keep coffee firmly in their control. The Governess hid coffee cuttings in a bouquet of flowers that she gave to him as a farewell gift, when he departed for Brazil.

National Geographic reports from then to the 20th century Brazil has been the single largest supplier of coffee in the world. From Brazil Coffee spread the world over through out the “coffee belt.” (The area between the tropic of Capricorn on the bottom and the tropic of Cancer on top) And in 1998, Brazil alone exported over 22 million 60-kilogram bags.

One last item of note according to “Real coffee” on December 16 1773 there was the now infamous “Boston Tea Party” and after the Tea Party, it became very unpatriotic to drink tea and ever since then (even before the birth of our country), coffee has been the single most popular drink in America.

In Conclusion, I hope that I have educated you on the travels and tribulations of the truly exciting journey that coffee has taken. You can all see Coffee has had a very vibrant and lively trip from those early days of Kaldi and his goats, to the wonderful drink that is enjoyed around the world today.

Musing #6

Last Sunrise in the Mediterranean

0455 (4:55 AM) Thursday morning May 10^th, the water was glassy smooth the only ripples were from the bow slicing smoothly through the water. The sky was still starry as we headed west. Behind us, the light started almost imperceptibly at first then growing faster a deep rich gold along the horizon. The clouds are still dark and inky, above them night is still grasping firmly refusing to fade away to the onslaught of the new day.

As the light grows, there is Spain off to the north. Rising up from the water not welcoming but refreshing nonetheless, for you see today is our last day in the Mediterranean Sea. After today, I am most likely to never sail on any body of water other than the Atlantic. Standing quietly I think back over the memorable past 17 ½ years I have spent them in the Navy. I wonder what the future holds and what will happen with my life after I retire.

Turning back to the sunrise at hand, the sky is growing brighter and that gold is now showing orange with a purple line above with the night still refusing to fade away. The clouds are lighting brighter by the second moving from purple to fire red with orange below as the sky brightens up there are merchant ships carrying cargo to and from all parts of the globe passing along.

Today is the dawning of a new day and the closing of a chapter. As the sun slides up to the horizon, the night finally relinquishes it grasp. Such a poetic moment should not be interrupted by idle conservation, I remain, fellow sailors have come and gone today; just as they have come and gone through out my career.

I cherish this moment like few others in my life. Looking back for the last 214 days of this deployment and the last 17½ years in the navy, I can truly say wow it has been one hell of a ride. Just as the day takes over the night, it is time for the younger sailors to take over for those of us “old salts” this day is different than every one before and the Navy is different today then it was when I came in a scared kid. Somewhere along the way I became a man, today is the day when the kids of today will need to step up and be men too.

I guess it is finally time for me to start looking west towards that sunset and let the younger sailors have the day.

HOW TO SIMULATE SHIPBOARD LIFE - NAVY STYLE

Speaking today on behalf of those that think that the Navy lives a "TOP GUN" existence. You know, those people that have watched one too many episodes of JAG, and think that Navy life is glamorous! Here are a few suggestions on how to experience the real Navy life, right in the comfort of your own home.

• Buy a dumpster, paint it gray and live in it for 6 months straight.

• Run all of the piping and wires inside your house on the outside of the walls.

• Pump 10 inches of nasty, crappy water into your basement, then pump it out, clean up, and paint the basement "deck gray"

• Every couple of weeks, dress up in your best clothes and go the scummiest part of town, find the most run down, trashy bar you can, pay $10 per beer until you're hammered, then walk home in the freezing cold.

• Perform a weekly disassembly and inspection of your lawnmower.

• On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays turn your water temperature up to 200 degrees, then on Tuesday and Thursday turn it down to 10 degrees.

• On Saturdays, and Sundays declare to your entire family that they used too much water during the week, so all showering is secured.

• Raise your bed to within 6 inches of the ceiling.

• Have your next door neighbor come over each day at 5am, and blow a whistle so loud that Helen Keller could hear it and shout "Reveille, Reveille, all hands heave out and trice up"

• Have your mother-in-law write down everything she's going to do the following day, then have her make you stand in the back yard at 6am and read it to you.

• Eat the raunchiest Mexican food you can find for three days straight, then lock the bathroom door for 12 hours, and hang a sign on it that reads "Secured - contact OA DIV at X-3053"

• Submit a request form to your father-in-law, asking if it's ok for you to leave your house before 3pm.

• Invite 200 of your not-so-closest friends to come over, then board up all the windows and doors to your house for 6 months. After the 6 months is up, take down the boards, and since you're on duty, wave at your friends and family through the front window of your home...you can't leave until the next day.

• Shower with above-mentioned friends.

• Make your family qualify to operate all the appliances in your home(i.e. Dishwasher operator, blender technician, etc.)

• Walk around your car for 4 hours checking the tire pressure every 15 minutes.

• Sit in your car and let it run for 4 hours before going anywhere. This is to ensure your engine is properly "lit off".

• Empty all the garbage bins in your house, and sweep your driveway 3 times a day, whether they need it or not.

• Repaint your entire house once a month.

• Cook all of your food blindfolded, groping for any spice and seasoning you can get your hands on.

• Have your neighbor collect all your mail for a month, randomly losing every 5th item.

• Spend $20,000 on a satellite system for your TV, but only watch CNN and the Weather Channel.

• Have your 5-year-old cousin give you a haircut with goat shears.

• Sew back pockets to the front of your pants.

• Spend 2 weeks in the red-light districts of Europe, and call it "world travel"

• Attempt to spend 5 years working at McDonalds, and NOT get promoted.

• Ensure that any promotions you do get are from stepping on the dead bodies of your co-workers.

• Needle gun the aluminum siding on your house after your neighbors have gone to bed.

• When your children are in bed, run into their room with a megaphone, and shout at the top of your lungs that your home is under attack, and order them to man their battle stations.

• Post a menu on the refrigerator door informing your family that you are having steak for dinner. Then make them wait in line for at least an hour, when they finally get to the kitchen, tell them that you are out of steak, but you have dried ham or hot dogs. Repeat daily until they don't pay attention to the menu any more they just ask for hot dogs.

• In the middle of January, place a podium at the end of your driveway. Have you family stand watches at the podium, rotating at 4-hour intervals.

• Lock yourself and your family in your house for 6 weeks. Then tell them that at the end of the 6th week you're going to take them to Disneyland for "weekend liberty". When the end of the 6th week rolls around, inform them that Disneyland has been cancelled due to the fact that they need to get ready for E-cert, and that it will be another week before they can leave the house.
  
  Put your family through these, and then let them tell you how glamorous Navy life is.

I Wanna Be A Popstar

Ya know the truth hurts sometimes...
This guy is good and I Love the Video!

Enjoy!



http://view.break.com/372438 - Watch more free videos

ISO (in search of)

hello all I'm looking for something to post here, and I'm hoping that you my fans can help. I am looking for the 100 things that I would do if I was an evil warlord.
Can anyone help me out?

Happy 2008 to all and I hope that this year finds you and yours "...healthy wealthy and wise"!
(now who can tell me who first said that and what is the rest of the quote?)

Dennis