Brace Your Business

With having a small business, being independent, the results of many years of hard work have become concrete for many people. Having sacrificed many hours. And in case of having a family, they usually have done their share as well. Because of the economic downfall, more are tempted to start this rewarding but ever so long and risky road. And like getting in your car and drive away, you not just have to know there are rules, but also how to apply them and when. Also the direction you’re heading for. The short cuts. The detours. The available options. Good times aren’t a guarantee. Even in the days of plenty opportunities, this road requires all the attention one has. Even being an experienced and a careful driver, you might have to face the unexpected. So, again, being well prepared in the turmoil of the global storm that still not has shown its tail, is a basic ingredient to have with you. To have a trustworthy navigation system in that car is a big help, but your eyes will notice that fallen tree, not your Tom Tom, or whatever the name might be. To be consulted and advised by, for instance franchise business San Antonio TX, about how to start a business San Antonio TX , or  to buy franchise San Antonio TX , is that navigation system, but it’s you who’s the responsible driver. It’s your business! It’s your and your family’s life! Image by Photobucket/MegW

Business Opportunities

When the economic crisis hit the world there were plenty of companies forced to file bankruptcy, instantly, or after a short while. Many people became unemployed. And the end of it is still open for any scenario. No-one really knows. However, there is a handful of them that think about the possible positive prospects for the economy. Surprisingly perhaps, but a time of crisis won’t stop all ventures for doing business. All it takes is to consider what kind of business is still having opportunities. And that’s not an easy job. Many an entrepreneur today takes even more effort of hard work making his business plan to become successful. Many others like to start from scratch to make their venture well established, and there are some who consider the idea of purchasing a franchise business, which contain a well ordered plan already. In Indianapolis, the franchise business Indiana Polis, IN , has already intermediated successfully for many people. If you’re planning to grab the opportunity and start a business Indiana Polis, IN, it is good to know your franchise consultant, Indiana Polis, NY will assist you with a clear clarification regarding the franchise. Maybe I might turn my small business into a franchise myself!

At Your Service!

Ever wondered where the exotic looking @ comes from, that you use everyday? Well, I did. Unrolling that sign as if being a carpet, walking that line, I found myself back in the Middle Ages, where monks used this sign, or that comes close to it, to prevent their writings getting mixed up by bookbinders and printers, adding/repeating the last line they wrote on every new page. Commonly wrote ‘ad’, that looked like a mirrored ‘6’ to save time. In the 15th century used by Spanish merchants to measure bulls and wine. In the Renaissance period, people started to use @ in the more general sense of costs like: "1 oil painting @ $100". Meaning you were the proud owner of a Leonardo Da Vinci for a mere 100 bucks! (Dream On!) Later it was used in bookkeeping, and a Finders Keepers for the inventors of email. Next time when you punch that button, you hit history. Image by Photobucket/gundega_bb

Franchise Business

Sometime ago, I talked to an admirable businessman and a good friend from Colorado. He has various businesses and two of them I still can remember: communication tools and being a business broker Colorado,. In the decades of being in business, he can claim to have become a successful business entrepreneur. He’s used to make a solid business plan. I was not sure how much he knew about franchising though. If he orientated his way to own a business in this field. If he heard about the various franchise opportunities Colorado, because it has been the first and foremost businesses offered. More and more of the entrepreneurs are willing to consider the franchise business for its worry free of marketing, equipment or advertising issues. It is the franchiser that takes all the responsibility of making your business established. He'll provide your business a good start. I was involved before in a franchise business. It runs so smoothly through all levels of the business, because of all the experience that backs it up. If i'll have the chance to talk again with my friend, I’ll suggest him to buy franchise Colorado. If I have sufficient funds I will also consider franchise business.

The Prince With A Punch

Today, June 29, is the birthday of Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900-1944), writer, aviator, flying blue-blooded postman between Toulouse/France and Dakar/Senegal. Vanished out of the sky on his likely last flight. Known for his poetic, illustrated book ‘Le Petit Prince’ with a philosophical and critical twist! To me, the book that introduced me to the French language sans salir mon pantalon! Maybe his quote ‘It’s only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye’, helped me with that. Image by Photobucket/morticia_cadaver 

30,000 Dips

I want to celebrate having reached the 30,000 visitors on Fit4All with you today! Never mind the Ticker Tape Parade, but don’t forget to grab one of those spoons of chocolate dipped strawberries, I can’t finish them all by myself! Have a great Sunday! Image by Photobucket/arun23

Flattering Flimsy’s

I’m not sure if it’s a sign of at least some trace of a split personality, but I get goose pimples when I see a trunk or drawers getting opened loaded with an unholy mess of clothes! It also might be just fantasy or having a playful mind. Ok, maybe it’s shallow curiosity as well, because the content of my own cardboard boxes doesn’t thrill me at all, it has to be someone else’s stuff. On the one or two occasions such a hidden treasure did unfold its mystery to me, I was lucky to be in some basement, and not in some dusty and dark attic: my jump of joy would have ended against a wooden bar and in a splitting headache! That would have made me lost for words for sure! I tell you all this because that year, when this happened - the not getting the splitting headache - provided me one of the most original and yet flattering sexy halloween party costumes I ever laid eyes on, months and months ahead, I guess the pumpkins were not even growing by then! For some reason, a few carefully picked items that turned up, gave me the feeling to be someone else, on the spot, to be able to fool the bad spirits in the hours before All Saint’s Day! If you would like to know what those pieces of garment were... I’m not telling, it’s my Trick to get the Treat! Image by Photobucket/duchampfiend

Silence Still Speaks

June 27, birthday of Helen Keller (1881-1968), writer and (among others) spokeswoman for the deaf and blind. Being 19 months old, she was struck with a fever and couldn't hear or see anything since that moment. Advised by Graham Bell, the 20-year old Anne Sullivan became her tutor and her companion for 49 years. By using methods that were used by Bell; touching lips to feel the vibrations and spelling the alphabet in the palm of the hand, she became the first deaf and blind person with a Bachelors of Arts degree in 1904. Being a member of the socialist party, she strongly believed in the Russian Revolution. Funny enough, this June 27, is also the day of the mutiny of the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin against their oppressive officers (1905). An event that’s regarded by many as the ouverture of the Russian Revolution. Director Sergei Eisenstein made the still impressing black and white silent film in 1925 about this day. Both stories show that not everything has to be loud to be heard! Image by Photobucket/neilCRITTER

Yellow From Yester!

June 26, 1819, is the day a patent was established for something we all take for granted today, but would miss terribly if taken away from our lives: the bicycle! There seem to be more than 1 billion of them, getting us to work, school and leisure. At the end of the 19th century, next to horse buggies, these once ‘running-machines’ with having fancy names such as Dandy Horse, developed into what we would recognize as bicycles, and became the major way of transport for people. Even Freedom Machines for women, who more and more got the hang of it to move around independantly from men. Bicycles were a kind of labatory, in which inventions were made to get used later in automobiles. Think of Dunlop’s 1888 innovation of the pneumatic tire, that made the solid rubber tire obsolete. The improvements of sandy or cobbled stoned roads were helping a lot too. This is also the birthday of Greg Lemond (1961), the first American who won the Tour de France in 1986. To repeat this in 1989 what would become one of the most spectacular editions ever, riding the latest aerodynamic bicycle with a winning difference of a mere 8 seconds, after 87 hours, 24 days and 3,285 kilometres, on the final day in the streets of Paris! Image by Photobucket/lorenajazmin

Bright Lights, Big City

Maybe you have noticed the hiccups of the past few days to see if there was any news here? For now I’ll be back in Bright-Lights-Big-City: the place where life doesn’t get plugged out because the sun has gone down and where many things are on display and available! For now, I’ve had it with shortages may it be electric supply, cell-phone reception or groceries! Image by Photobucket/harlequinian

From Prado To Paris

Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (1881–1973) got his first work published on June 24, 1901. Although some other source mentions March 31, being some illustrations for the Madrid magazine Arte Joven (Young Art). In 1895, the family moved to Barcelona and he transferred to its School of Fine Arts. Picasso thrived in the city, where the construction of Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia had been started already (1882), so he must have seen it. Being at the age of 13 he impressed people of the academy there and got admitted with flying colours. After studying art in Madrid (1897) where he spent more time in the Prado than the Academy, Picasso made his first trip to Paris in 1900, then the art capital of Europe. These seem to have been times of severe poverty and desperation for a man I always had seen as fortunate. Much of his work at the time had to be burned to keep the small room warm that he shared with someone. By 1905 Picasso became a favorite of the American art collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein, and got introduced to the whole world, that still knows his name and work very well. Image by Photobucket/graemeunwin

Wagging Waiters

June 23, 1961 - The Antarctic Treaty, signed by twelve nations in 1959, finally took effect on this day. It guaranteed the use of the continent for peaceful and scientific purposes only. (I wonder what they’re going do with all that plastic waste there, what’s scientific about that escapes me) The twelve original signers were Argentina, Australia, Belgium…Belgium? Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. Since that time, 28 other nations have signed as well. Very noble of them, but maybe the fact it’s so darn cold down there, made the decision an easy one? Because, who wants to live there? Ok, they got more waiters there than in Paris, you got your point! So, the iced coffee will be superb! I can’t argue with that! But where are the beaches? Image by Photobucket/Amstarlite

A Bust For Bunker

June 21, the actor Carroll Oconnor died (1925-2001). Being a leftwinger himself he played the arrant conservative and discriminating Archie Bunker in the 70s tv sitcom ‘All in the Family’ with such flair, that the awful ideas in his character’s mind were big fun to watch. One couldn’t really hate this guy, because deep inside he was a soft egg. Wherever he is now, he surely will miss his chair he was sitting in all those years, but at least he’ll be pleased to see it being displayed with no polak, black or woman sitting in it! Image by Photobucket/bootytooth

A Spell Of Smoke

Cumulating and meandering through times the smoke of tabacco has seen many different faces of appreciation. Totally unknown in the western world, in the pre-columbian america’s tobacco was considered sacred, a medicine and worthy to seal a bargain. Being introduced in the western world, different ways of fashion to deal with tobacco developed, next to smoking: chewing and snuffing, depending the era and social background. It was a typical masculine habit, with a rare exception of some prostitutes, till the beginning of the 20th century. From then on tobacco got really public. And mingled with it in such a way it was hardly noticed anymore. Maybe this was the real first sign of addiction to nicotine? To me, the most obvious problem with smoking always has been the stench in my clothes and hair the next morning. Being a non-smoker, that is. With the introduction of the e cigarette I hoped this was the beginning of a ‘fresh start’, no sore throats or feeling bad-odored while having had a good night out anymore. Skilfully camouflaged as the old familiar cigarette (a LED serving as an indicator while there's inhalation, is part of that) the electronic dobbelganger isn’t much more than a chemical device that vaporizes a nicotine solution. Producing similar effects, to the smoker as well as yours truly. That’s at least, my first impression. But if you can’t resist, and really need your desperate shot of nicotine, try one of those e cigarette starter kits that seem to be available as well. One thing I’m sure of is, that the old fashioned cigarette and the strike of a match can’t be beaten on the screen! If they tried with the e cigarette, the gestures of actors would look ridiculous, like those, in some film, pretending to be roman soldiers, passing the camera, still wearing their watches! Image by Photobucket/qq253

The Gimmick, The Game

On June 20, 1877 Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922) installed the worlds first commercial telephone service. Being an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator of things ranging from vehicles and airplanes to a device to detect icebergs and a metal detector, also being close to the principle of the tape recorder and floppy disc, who experimented with composting toilets and solar panels for heating, but got most known for the telephone, which he himself considered an intrusion on his work and therefore refused to have one in his study! Regarded ‘a toy’ by Western Union who got the patent offered for 100,000 dollars, and turned it down. Two years later, it was said that if they could get the patent for 25 million it would be considered a bargain! This ‘toy’ by the way, got established as a hotline between the two global centres of power at the time, the Soviet Union and the USA, on this very same day, in the year 1963. Not bad for a toy! Can you see Obama and Putin gaming together? Mmm, maybe not a bad idea! As long as it remains a game! As long as they’ll gnash their own teeth, and not ours! Image by Photobucket/maket_13

Faulty Friday

June 19, 1978, is the birthday of Garfield, Jim Davis’ lasagna eating cat, making fun at pet owners and their do’s and don’ts. With the pet outwitting the human. Garfield isn’t also alien to very people’s problems, such as diets, hatred of Monday’s, boredom and relationships. In this way being a mirror to us all. Another blessing for human kind was the establishment on the same day, in 1912, of the 8 hours working day in the US. Perhaps Garfield would have suggested an expulsion of Mondays, then again, what would then become of the Tuesdays? Keep up the good work, folks, it’s Friday already, just three more days and it’s Monday again, yippee! Image by Photobucket/araujosandra

Heat Over Heels

How far would high heels bring me? That’s a question I ask myself every now and then, biting my underlip. Usually standing in the porch sniffing the possibilities of the day that has just begun, or about to start (I have to travel/survive the rushing hour, like many millions of others, perhaps biting underlips as well). The weather conditions have a major say in this burning question. In the dry season that’s giving me no problems, that’s just hot and sultry to deal with. Open shoes and foot-baths being back home are the sufficient answer to that. And giving hubby a certain look gets me a free massage as well. But the wet season, is another path to walk! Then the ‘foot-bath’ chapter is not a problem: I get that for free, (so do my shoes) all the time the moment I set a foot outside, whether that’s an office or a shop, or my own humble castle. That foot won’t have high heels by then, by the way. The only real pair of pumps I got are too precious to me to be sacrificed to the Rain Gods. Believe me, the road here that leads to the daily smile of my ever charming boss, is not covered with stable pavement. Those floody days bring the image of Wellies to me, problem there again: I have nothing to wear with those! I’m considering to become a WAWAWHAH (Wellies Abandoned Working And Wearing Heels At Home)! Image by Photobucket/muffz_23

Pom-Pom’s And Beach Bulls

Today I had a very busy day. I was sort of helping Stephanie with her thesis by giving her a helping hand, interviewing some local Hotels and Resorts staff members. It was quite interesting to hear what they had to tell. We finished 4 resorts and after that we went back to the Magodlong Resort, where the owner of the Scuba Diving School just arrived and Stephanie liked to interview him as well.

It was really fun listening to those two. Scuba diving is a very specialized sort of sports, isn't it? I’d never seen it as a real sport. Now, I know better. But who isn’t interested to get underwater and have a peek? Many, I guess, but only a few have chosen to do it. In all honestly, I always would have liked to try it someday despite that bulky scuba diving gear is really a handful to handle. Soon enough (I think) I’ll be a Lucky Dog, and have a first on scuba diving. And have a look of those graceful moves of fish and plants, like a ballet, or like pom-pom’s of cheerleaders!

But don’t hold your breath! My condition isn’t much to brag about. I’m not much of a natural when it comes to sports. Anyway, I would rather wrestle with diving gear than take a sport like soccer or football. Even if there would be places to play those sports here. Well, volleyball would be applicable because I enjoyed that sport in my high school days, and the island’s court is right behind my shop! Another might-be would be baseball, but I’m very clumsy with bats, I have hit lots of things with them, but balls were a minority among them! No, I better stick to the diving, I’m a Beach Bull, after all! Image by Photobucket/kohlton777_bucket

The Prestige Of Peacocks

June 18, is a day a few great man found their Waterloo, or were just a paper-thin-distance away from it! The one who couldn’t escape this faith anymore was Napoleon, the year 1815. In the hilly farmer fields around Brussels, Belgium, he got defeated by an allied army of British and Prussians. But he’d lost his grip already in his desastrous 1812 midwinter retreat from Moscow to France in a campagne that had started with 400,000 troops and ended up with just 40,000 survivors. The other one I have in mind, came close to his, receiving on this June 18, 1858, a letter from A.R. Wallace, another evolutionary thinker of the time, explaining his ideas about the natural selection, and felt forced to publish his own ideas with speed lightning...the name: George Darwin, and his ideas were cummulated in the ‘Origin of Species’. Should he had waited, the name of Wallace would be found in the bookshops of today more often, and less Darwin’s. Not that those two weren’t in speaking terms. The opposite: they corresponded, met each other and were good friends. What these three men have in common, is first: that they spent lots of time on ships. Napoleon lost most of what he got to Nelson in one and the same battle, Wallace lost almost everything of his 1848-1852 Brazilian expedition, except his diary and some sketches, it was Darwin who seemed to have been ‘the fittest’ and the most fortunated. And second: Darwin was baffled about the function of the peacock’s tail, got assistance from among others, Wallace, to find out, and Nappy... well, he’s just a colorful French/Italian show-off who got his tail clipped! Image by Photobucket/foreverlostamong

Keep On Rocking, Girl!

The Statue of Liberty arrived this day, June 17, 1885 in New York on the French frigate ‘Isere’, in 350 pieces of copperplates packed in 214 crates. As a French gift to the just established USA. But it wasn’t a straightforward birth: it nearly got to the entrance of the Suez Canal, as a lighthouse, if people would have allowed the builder, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, in 1869. After this still-born, he went to the States several times, to promote the idea of getting her to New York. Finally, after a long struggle of finding the means and the use of an already existing foundation of a fortress, it took 4 months of erecting the plates supported by a framework designed by Gustave Eiffel, to finish the first thing that’s ever seen in the America’s by millions of ‘give me your tired, your poor’ people. May her faith be different than the one in the 1968 film ‘Planet of the Apes’! Keep on Rocking, Girl! Image by Photobucket/droe69

Iran Impersonated

Does this baby look dangerous to you? I’m sure you’ll say it’s not! But possible its parents or grandparents, big brothers and sisters, cousins and many others are in danger, by getting in Theran’s streets these days, by the thousands, to show they’re like anyone else in this world, something unheard of till recently in today’s Iran. Iran’s people are people like you and me, who want to get up and go to bed in peace. Who would like to see their national team going to South Africa for the World Championship’s Football next year. Who would like to go out, spend time with their loved ones. Who don’t want to waste time and money with nuclear weapons. That’s why they’re there now, in danger. Because some among them, with the power to destroy, have to get persuaded not to! Image by Photobucket/nazim_08

A Timeless Twain

June 16, Stan Laurel’s birthday (1890-1965), the man who made millions smile over thirty years, together with Oliver Hardy. Although they knew each other already, it took a mishap (!) in Hardy’s kitchen to get them together to become this famous couple. The fumbling with a tie, bowler hats and removers with piano’s will always remind me of the both of you, the good laughs and the tears! May there be long steep steps, swimming pools and clumsyness in the afterlife, I’m sure you two will take care of the laughter! For his last jest you’ll have to go to Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery to read his epitaph: ‘If anyone at my funeral has a long face, I’ll never speak to him again!’ Image by Photobucket/Kerrji

Vantage For Vintage

There are words buzzing around, just because the sound of them is pleasing and, at first glance, lots of people immediately think they know what’s the subject, what that word stands for. Such a word is vintage. And I fully admit: I like the sound too. And I think I know which direction to look at, when I hear or see it printed, too. It tickles my imagination. But it’s also a word that stands for a phenomenon that raises more and more questions while getting more and more familiar with it! Then again, that might be just the reason for many, to become addicted, to like to know even more. Vintage is such a widespread mark of quality, or pretends to be, in so many different fields, it keeps on being a kind of mirage. It’s hard to get a grip on it. That adds to its charm. And it’s not a ‘new kid on the block’’, it always has been a point of reverence. It appeals to those people who are looking for quality and originality. May it be fashions, wines, cars, jewellery, furniture, or anything else that’s been designed a long time ago, or even originates from a more recent time and has become even better through the years, but also getting more scarce, it will be searched for, and purchased. Maybe the only thing to remember is that its just not about fancy names, don’t be blinded by it. Real vintage stands on its own (styish) feet, not leaning on any kind of fashion. Image by Photobucket/wonderwall_2007

Kinilaw Kookie

When Marga, Chy and Stephanie were here last week we had so much fun roaming around. Not the entire island but to some of the main tourist destinations. Stephanie was actually the tour guide for she knows more of this island than I do already. We’ve been to the island in San Francisco. It’s an amazingly beautiful place. At the end of this exhausting yet exciting day, we were looking for something to fill our stomachs with. And Stephanie offered to prepare the most coveted Filipino dish: Kinilaw (raw fish), one of the specialities in the Philippines. She tried to prepare it in such a way that everyone would love it. Aside from the Kinilaw we also had Filipino chicken and pork bbq and of course European salad, easy to prepare because Stephanies’ kitchen is very small. If incase you would want to try the Kinilaw yourself, you might need a more convenient kitchen. So our day ended with a full stomach and a mind full of fun memories. Image by Photobucket/triggerfish56

Freedom Isn’t A Flaw

King John (brother of Richard the Lionheart) set his seal to the Magna Carta on this day in 1215. A first step on the long winding road to what would become the foundation of today’s democracies. Forced to do so by English barons with the help of Scottish and French troops and the support of the common folk. Not caused by some high goal by the way, the nobility had enough of John’s taxes. With this paper they could legally overrule the king if necessary. And for all commoners from then on, there was an appeal possible against unlawful imprisonment. He renounced this treaty, the moment the troops had left. Not with much success, the tide of events couldn’t be stopped, not even by royal hands. Democracy might have a few flaws, but what is flawless being human made? A real civilized world starts and ends with human rights. If that’s around, the rest will follow. Image by Photobucket/vervegrrl

A Candle Cycle

From the moment humans could control fire, they must have been looking for a way to have that fire with them wherever they went. Using all kinds of available material. Where Egyptians and Romans used grasses and some kind of grease from cattle and sheep, they got the light, but also the terrible smell. Later, the use of bee-wax appeared all around the world accompanied with a more pleasant odor. Whale oil was used (Moby Dick knows all about it). Halfway the 19th century the paraffin wax out of oil and coal shales was another step to the candle we know. The crude oil of the 20th century gave shape to the candle we still use, not for finding our way in the dark (except in hours of a brown-out), but for special (ceremonial) ocassions like Xmas, birthdays (not to the liking of all, being confronted with a candle or two too many) or for a romantic dinner-for-two. Not that long ago, candles in every fragrance, shape and shade of colour were introduced. Among them such real expensive pieces of art that hardly no-one is daring to lit them! And that’s a shame, so, I lit a candle for everyone who dares! Image by Photobucket/yami2512

The Panther Purrs, The Eagle Established

June 14, Henry Mancini (1924-1994) composer of the Pink-zhe ruum-Panther theme (I often hum it, entering a dark room) and ‘Moon River’ (smashing Audrey Hepburn sings it beautifully) from the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) died. And with him, in a different year: Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) best known voice of jazz, that made someone remark: ‘play an Ella Ballad with a cat in the room, the animal will go up the speaker, lie down and purr’. Ok, maybe this might be a good reason to let some colors fly: this is also the day that the American Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes! And the birthday of Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) writer of ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’, the antislavery novel that made Lincoln, introduced to her, say: ‘so you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war’. Image by Photobucket/wifeofamarine

Reflective Reasonings Of Rates

Like always, being on the road, I get these what-if-flashes. Very often in between two harbors with nothing than blue ocean surrounding me. Something there makes me contemplative for some reason. Maybe the reflections on the smooth water? And I’m not talking Small-Potato-if’s, but the Big Issue-if’s. I don’t have the responsibility for a family with kids, I don’t have a family of my own. That you might see as poor or rich, but, in anyway, it’s a fact to me. Still no reason to neglect ‘yours truly’, right? For many years, I’ve promised myself several times to get through some life insurance rates online again. That’s a Big Issue, I’m sure that you agree. It has brought me a good idea what the differences are, the pro’s and con’s. Now, the waiting is for the day to hit a jackpot, a sound business deal, to afford a good custom made life insurance. And push one Big Issue-if into the Deep Blue Sea. Image by Photobucket/aw3423

Swedish Chef's Spruce

For the past days I got invited by Stephanie for lunch or dinner, and of course it’s a European menu served then. I started to love it and I'm thinking of cooking European food myself, though there are some ingredients I couldn’t find in our local market. But Steph taught me some basics, especially for sauces. Today I had my regular Filipino dish since I still don’t have those ingredients, and Steph just left for her trip to Malapascua. This month might be my American Dish Month because I'm going to have visitors from the US soon. I'm trying to master the American Cuisine already. I found a handful of all-American recipes and I'll attempt to have a variety of American foods on the table. Probably soon I might become an international chef with all of this learning? Frankly, I expect to become a mix of the Swedish Chef and Animal! Well, I'm a HRM graduate and lots of people are saying how idiot I am not knowing how to cook, where cooking was part of my study! But then again, my field was management. Image by Photobucket/hagedorn77

A Royal Rebel For Romantics

The eccentric Bavarian Ludwig II, the Swan King, or Mad Ludwig, drowned in mysterious ways in a shallow lake not far from his castle Neuschwanstein in Southern Germany on this day, June 13, 1886. Born in 1845, he became the Bavarian King at the young age of 18, but under the mask of suffering from some mental illness (without being diagnosed or even seen) and perhaps of his extravagancies, removed from the few grains of power left to him, the day before he died. Was destined to marry Princess Sissi’s sister Sophie, but didn’t. Was the patron of Richard Wagner, who said: “Alas, he’s so handsome and wise, soulful and lovely, that I fear his life must melt away in this vulgar world like a fleeting dream of the gods”. As often as he could, he secluded himself from the political world in his (unfinished) castle, but was very popular among the common people. The same castle that later would inspire Walt Disney for his wellknown private empire icon. There’s the 1972 Visconti film ‘Ludwig’, (with Trevor Howard as Wagner and Romy Schneider as Empress ‘Sissy’ Elisabeth) to give you a perfect three hours glimpse of his tragic life, or if you’re a Die Hard Romantic, perhaps a visit to the Bavarian Alps might do that for you. Anyway, forget Rudolph Valentino, this is the man for a deep sigh! Image by Photobucket/swanknight_14

Frame Fumble

To roam around photo albums and grabbing pictures out of shoe boxes is still ‘having a good time’ for me. But seeing the prices for a digital frame going down, and the designs of them getting prettier, I had to take a second look myself lately. What happened is what I’d expected: the range of features got me confused! And the range of price tags from Rock Bottom to Sky High got me frozen on the spot! After having been recovered with a Café Latte (usually I don’t drink coffee, but something strong was desperately needed), I jotted down the major things that were important to reconsider, later on, being home again. One was that there’s a frame for everybody’s taste. That’s good. But. The most technical advanced ones, with integrated video, audio, WiFi and Bluetooth, is food for the Nerds (sorry guys, no offence, but I’m not an engineer). And no Big Spendor either, because they don’t come cheap. But I didn’t trust the cheap ones as well. They looked a bit taggy to me. An easy thing to remember (I can, so you all can): consider only frames with a resolution of 640-by-480 or higher. That’s what made my mouth watering again, or was it the Latte to blame for?! Image by Photobucket/Gialuna_photo

Hold Off Ouverture

On June 12, 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo (1869-1964) declares the Philippines independent from Spain. Together with people like Bonifacio and Rizal he was hoping for American support for independence in the Spanish/American War, but had to face the Americans to succeed the Spaniards. Once again, he declared independence on August 12, 1898, got elected the first president of the Philippines on January 1, 1899, and declared war on the USA. Got captured, but lived long enough to see his lifelong goal achieved in 1946. What the picture has to do with this? Apparantly the Philippines were sold to the USA for 20 million dollars by the Spaniards. Later on, Andrew Carnegie seems to have offered 20 million, in his turn, to give the Phillipines independence. For some, unknown reason to me, that wasn’t accepted. The ouverture for the final liberation had to wait. 250,000 Filippino’s wouldn’t live the day to attend... Image by Photobucket/mannymartinez100

Books And Bucks

With the intention to surprise her old mother with a new mattrass to give the old bones a well deserved night rest, a Tel Aviv daughter-out-of-thousands got the old bag (the mattrass, not the Mom) removed out of the house, dumped and replaced. Then, a story unfolds that could easily fit in the piles of Amazon books with a horror or dark humor theme. The next day dear Mom woke up, not with a healthy condition, but with a cry out of despair, realizing what happened. Her savings of around one million us-dollars had been in the old mattrass. And that had already been taken away by some lorry! Several calls and searches later, the mattrass is still not excavated from the thousands of tons of rubbish. Also unknown is where the woman got all the bucks from, she didn’t want to tell. A Life’s A Book with some pages ripped apart sometimes, but a whole mattrass with a million out of the window..? Image by Photobucket/Curioso434

The Blue For Two C’s

A picture to honor two men who have been exploring the oceans, to give us much more understanding of what’s going on in there. One is who explored the upper surface: James Cook (1728-1779), who for instance, discovered the Great Barrier Reef, but almost got grounded there on June 11, 1770. Despite he was a great pilot, he surely would have appreciated a picture like this, to find his way out again! The second is the one who got under the surface most of the time, it’s his birthday today: Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997). Explorer and researcher who showed us many unforgettable images with his selfmade underwater camera. I’m sure his heaven looks like this picture. Image by Photobucket/marieindustrial

Pleasure Of Shopping

Walking through the malls or Main Streets, we’re not really aware that Science isn’t always Fiction, but escorting us all the time. From shops to stadiums, from retail to restaurant, any location where transactions occur, POS systems (Point Of Sale) might be helping to get you and the locations’ staff members a smooth running experience. What we usually see, as customers, are the touch screens, not the efficient system behind all that. Your order at the front might hit a few buttons somewhere else in the building. Saving lots of time, for more shopping! A real Point Of Strength, so to speak! The kids of the future will see much more of all this. Our real Science Fiction, will be their Child’s Play. Image by Photobucket/thania34

Lap Dogs, Lap Tops, Top Drop!

Again, my eyes were caught to a publication that mentioned a remarkable article, this time in the coming July issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. According the article injuries caused by computers have been 7-folded in the past 13 years. At first, I hadn’t a clue why computers could be that dangerous. But it seems that kids under the age of 5 are the biggest group of victims, followed by the 60-and-up’s. Both groups tripped over them. With 70% head wounds to be taken care of. I thought it were pets, like cats and dogs to blame for that kind of accidents, then again, computers can be a love&hate issue as well. Because kicking and hitting the computer seems another wide spread cause of injuries in our households. There’s a dropping of these figures though, because the computers get smaller and lighter each year. But aren’t bigger dogs much more visible, and aren’t the small ones easier to be overlooked? Image by Photobucket/jwolken

Less Lardy-Dardy

According some article lard is ‘an upcoming trend and next to godliness’, that ‘hits all the right notes’. That made my eyebrows lift and my stomach contract. Not to mention my brain was giving red alert! Fortunately, it was mentioned that it was a certain lard that was meant. Not the dubious supermarket lard, but the ‘free-range’ or should I say ‘natural’ variation? I agree that the use of this kind of lard, or fat in the (professional or home) kitchen to add more taste to, let’s say, meat and to prevent getting it burned, is a plus. But to mention it’s ‘fuel for the body’ implies a regular consumation of it. Lard may have been a source of vitamins in some way-back-time with long days of hard labour in pretty basic circumstances, but I won’t recommand the same way of using it (like in those ‘good ol’ days) to people who are nine-to-fiver’s of the 21st century. To use common sense, and not easily believe the Lardy-Dardy that’s flying around, is the most likely and timeless answer to all questions and matters that cross our path. To recognize a good quality piece of meat (with attached fat, or not) is child’s play compared to, for example, the choice one finds among all those promising supplements such as appetite suppressants and weightloss pills. Many of them are true cocktails of herbs, vitamins, minerals and a number of doubtful ingredients, and what they actually do in a human body in the long run, is still a big question. Here again, you have to be aware there’s not such a thing as an easy way. It’s the change of lifestyle, of portion sizes, of physical efforts, and lots of patience, that will get you the best results. And the continuation to enjoy the tasty bits of life, with or without a thin slice of (natural) lard! Image by Photobucket/LadyMonte

Crossing Wires, Crossed Eyed

My eyes dropped on two very different things, but wired both loose ends. (if something might explode, you know where to find me: second island on the left). One was saying there was less DNA difference between human beings and chimpanzees (1%) than between different species of yeast (4%). That’s food department, folks! The other mentioned that chimpanzees don’t have the ability to cooperate through ‘reading’ the other individual’s mind, what we humans are good at. (at least we claim so, but in all honesty, we got more often crossed-eyed than Daktari’s lion Clarence). Think of pointing out to hidden food to a chimp. Most of them will fail, won’t understand what you’re getting at. On the other hand domestic dogs do well at such tasks, they often grasp what you’re trying to tell them. Puppies even do it without prior training, because of all those millennia of being Men’s Best Friend. I wonder how many percent of DNA difference there is between humans and dogs? Image by Photobucket/sexximexicana_2006

Walking Memory Lane

Is there any other fashion item that hot, as women’s shoes? Or is it me, who’s addicted that horribly to them? No, I’m sure that almost all women I know have the same soft spot for them. Funny enough, they haven’t been a fashion statement all the time. Till rather recently, people were not wearing shoes, actually. At least, not footwear as we know it today. Ofcourse, people (painfully) found out they had to cover their feet one day, running over hot rocks and walking long distances. But a first appearance of something remotely related to shoes, must have been the Egyptian flipflops. Romans improved these into sandals. The first mentioning that I could find about women's shoes was around the year 1000 (Saxons seem to have thrown bride-shoes to bridesmaids!). From then on, all kinds of weird foot-covering tumbled over each other for centuries: the Chopines for instance, we’re talking the 1500’s in France, Italy and Spain here, meant as overshoes to protect the expensive and delicate ‘shoes’, were a dazzling 24 inches high, and the ladies needed an escort to walk the streets. Nevertheless, they became a fashion on their own for some time, till ladies dropped like flies, I guess. Dropping is what they still did, in 1745, when Madame de Pompadour demanded her court ladies to wear high and narrow heels that reduced the seize of feet immensely, and the ladies fainted. Even a simple thing as the difference between a left and right ‘shoe’, wasn’t there yet, until 1830, except for the really wealthy people.

No, it took the introduction of the sewing machine in 1850, to get the boots of those days, more accessible to more women. And the liberation of the women to free them of many torture. It’s said that Victorian women were provided uncomfortable shoes (by men) that restricted their moves to keep them ‘restraint and quiet’. And while walking Memory Lane... wasn’t this restricting women going on for centuries already in China, in an even more monstruous fashion? It was the Tide of Times, and the Suffragettes to bring women the same freedom as men. Where Henry VIII in the first half of the 16th century played tennis on some sort of sneakers, it was the year 1865, with the introduction of real sneakers, that women shook off their strait-jackets, hit a few balls themselves, and joined the game as equals to men. From then on, women’s shoes more and more showed this freedom, till this very day. Image by Photobucket/bill_for_it 

Although... some today’s designer ideas make me wonder! Image by Photobucket/Jennifer88_

Some Space For A Dream

Recently, I was with a group of friends who are quite some experienced international travelers. They have been to so many different places and it’s always a great fun to listen to them when sharing their excitement of all these destinations they once had been to. It makes me even stronger convinced that one day soon I can visit one of my dream places. For now, although I’ve been in Hong Kong and Thailand, I’m just a local and Asian traveler. Those friends are planning to have a next vacation somewhere in the West, this year for sure they wouldn’t like to miss visiting New York. That could be one of the itinerary where countless of New York Sightseeing can be found. I’m imagining how nice those harbor cruises must be, and roaming around some of the big names of museums. Not to mention, the happy hour of shopping with all my favorite brands within reach, and all other beautiful tourist attractions. If my pocket would allow me,I surely would like to experience the helicopter tours. For now, there’s no budget to pay for such dreams. Ok, but I’m still wishing, with a strong faith that I can experience it all.

Credit To The Charter

Almighty, the first week of June has already ended! Before we realize it’s going to be the month of July already. Summer here in Asia is done but not in the West where it still has to start. Many of my friends who live down there have been looking forward to see their vacation coming closer and closer. Many of them had different ideas of places they liked to visit. Many times I had to hear their destinations got changed. I heard that my sister really liked coming over to the Philippines, that she liked to see her family again. Unfortunately, they got some important matters to deal with. Possibly, they might just go either to California or any other nearby states. Probably they are thinking of New York, which is a good idea because there the New York Bus Charter is to avail any trips they would want to take. I’m sure her husband and daughter will consider my recommendation of having a vacation in New York. Thanks to my busy schedule and a wallet that doesn’t give any sign of growth so far, I can’t make it to New York myself. I’m not the only one who has to take a deep breath in this global Cash Crash.

A Treaty And A Titan

Humans always have created an image of the world they live in. And there’s nothing wrong in that. But there have been misconceptions, like on June 7, 1494, when Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas that divided that world into roughly two parts. Roughly, because these two weren’t able to draw the line simply because they were too ignorent and too much suffering from self-complacency. But till this day, we still can see the results of it. Always to our amazement though: something bad coming out of good, or vice versa. What would the Philippines, for instance, look like today, if the Spaniards hadn’t made this ‘Gentlemen Agreement’ with the Portugese? Given way to a more north western European power like the Dutch or the British? That would have been another cup of tea. Imagine the Titan Atlas has a sudden itch on his left shoulder blade, and shrugs his back for a second! Things like that decide, to give an example, at what side of the road we would be driving our cars today.. Image by Photobucket/MaDaM02

Lurking In Lungs

Surprisingly as it might be to some people, but asbestos, that if exposed to humans into very tiny fragments on a large and long term scale causes Mesothelioma cancer, (affecting the lining covering of internal organs) is not a material typical for our time. Greek and Romans noticed that it was damaging the lungs of their slaves, weaving it into cloth. Others knew it, like Marco Polo, who mentioned garments ‘getting cleaned by being placed in fires’. Persians believed the fiber itself was a fur from some animal called Samandar, living in fire, died when exposed to water, and used it in their stoves. All not very surprising, asbestos has a tremendous range of qualities: resistance to heat, electricity and chemical damage, sound absorpetive and strength. In the 20th century it’s been used on a massive scale in construction building: ceilings, walls, floors, doors, as insulation material in general. But also: in shoes, the first filtered cigarette Kent, (1952) and for example, in children’s crayons partly made of chalk (2000). Banned in the EU, Australia, Nw. Zealand, Hong Kong and Japan. But still used in the USA, India and China. Fortunately, asbestos can be recycled into harmless silicate glass, into porcelain stoneware and ceramic bricks. I admit, it’s a poor consolation for all people who got effected. Image by Photobucket/drepounds5

A Day To Remember

Robert F. (Bobby) Kennedy (1925-1968) having defeated McCarthy in the critical California primary in the race for presidency, was shot shortly after midnight of June 5 and died on June 6. A quote of his last speech from that very night: “Fear not the Path of Truth for the lack of people walking on it”. 24 years earlier, on June 6, 1944, many people were walking that Path of Truth, leading over French beaches on D-Day. And caused the inevitable downfall of Nazi Germany. Thanks to those ‘forever young boys’ who never got home again, we’re free. Today, Normandy’s beaches will be visited by many again, to honor them. Standing on my own beach, at the other side of this earth, I do the same. Image by Photobucket/Chelsamomo

Shorelines For Sure

It must be my soft spot for shorelines of islands and their unexpected vistas, and all other good things that come with that in the same package, to make me return to them whenever I can. And of course it helps that I’m living on an island, never too far away from any coast. Even the very familiar beaches never get me disappointed, the opposite: there’s always the element of surprise. Where unknown cities can make me feel uneasy, unknown beaches give me the feeling of being home. One of those places is Southern Shores, North Carolina, USA, an area one mile wide, and four miles long running north to south. It’s between the towns of Kitty Hawk and Duck (even these names give me a holiday feeling). I just know this place from pictures and from stories of someone I know who originates from the State of NC, telling about the place and the pretty nice Outer Banks rentals that they got there like bed and breakfasts, cottages, hotels, condo’s or campgrounds. In other words: ‘something for all likes’ and ‘all year-round’, a perfect place to feel at home. I only have to make sure, to take a laptop with me, I might prolongue my stay there even before I dip my big toe into the ocean water! Image by Photobucket/TWA1129

A Buster, Not A Bush

A new captain on board usually means some new destinations. And perhaps the way to get to those new destinations as well. Fresh ideas and protocols. Old familiar things, good or bad, beautiful or ugly, disappear overnight. And are replaced by things that might need time to get appreciated. Or welcomed instantly. Or rejected with a bluntly eternal No-No. The Obama’s seem to like a thourough make over of the White House art collection. And I only can have big smiles of delight. Away with those weary paintings! Be a Ghost Buster! Get in those loud explosions of colour, bold lines and guts! Yes, Mr. President, surround yourself with this century. May it revolt in a different, more effective approach to the world living in that century. Free at last, free at last! Image by Photobucket/loicsb

Pretty Power Peel

In Roman Time, next to steam baths and other physical treatments, people could eat and drink, exercise, shop, socialize, and discuss politics in the bathing houses. Today’s version would be a combination of a library, art gallery, shopping centre, bar, restaurant, gym, and spa. Some of the spa’s nowadays do have all those facilities, to some extent. Fortunately, the use of covering the body with olive oil (soap was known, but a luxury item) and the use of a scraper, made of wood or bone, which removed the dirt, has been replaced with more refined and contemporary ways. Cosmetic procedures, like microdermabrasion remove the dead surface of the skin in a harmless manner. By way of crystals (blasted on the skin) or diamond treaty (tipping the skin and slightly touching it). Or using tiny parts of ‘sand’ polishing the skin, gradually removing (superficial) scars and discolored (sun-damaged or dark spotted) skin tissue. May the Roman bathing houses remain much longer than most modern buildings, at least this Power Peel is superior to the Roman scraper! Image by Photobucket/mboyle3

A Super Spine

On June the 4th, 1876, the Transcontinental Express from New York City, arrived in San Fransisco, after a Time Warping 83 hours. The 3,000 miles that had seperated both US coasts and would have taken months to cross on horseback, were done within four days. With the Civil War still fresh in mind, this was a major asset to the nation’s spine. The speed and luxury (fresh linen daily, beautifully appointed cars with plush velvet seats that converted into snug sleeping berths) made many Americans feel astonish. Perhaps, to some level, in those days it might have even surpassed the latest double decked Airbus 380 experience? The less fortunate had to travel on hard wooden benches of noisy carriages attached to freight cars, always shunted aside to make way for the express. But even these third-class passengers didn’t complain. Their journey would take 10 days or a bit more. Far from the 6 months in a back-breaking-wagon on the treacherous Oregon Trail. Image by Photobucket/Tomcats_Rose

A Tenable Target

Being a non coffee drinker, sorry dad, even your speciality is not my cup of tea, makes me not the right kind of person to use Phenphedrine. Simply because I feel bad drinking it, and this diet supplement is using caffeine in order to fight cravings for food at the most undesired hours of the day. Nevertheless, binge-eating is a problem far too familar to me. But I’ve got it fairly under control. Lots of people seem to have bigger problems with it. To them, I would say, if slapping your own hand doesn't prevent an exploration in the fridge, read carefully a phenphedrine review about these Hormone Hunters available on the web. To get your targets tenable and settled. Image by Photobucket/MasterConsular

Beijing’s Blench

According Reporters Without Borders, some Beijing Big Brothers have shut down access to (among others) search machines, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, WordPress and Blogger, just two days before a possible rememberance of the cry for more democracy on Tiananmen Square that got crushed by tanks on June 4, 1989! Because we all blog for fun or profession, know the importance of it, where it stands for, the least we can do is to show we know and care. Because we’re mighty privileged that we can! To remain silent would be a crime! Image by Photobucket/redeye_asian20_2006

Ray Without Remote

Every now and then I found myself in some Gadget Wonderland. In a far better informative place than any retail I’ve ever set foot in. For some reason, this handful of guys, yes, they’re all males, can give me a better understanding what’s going on, what’s the latest, what’s best, or is a big failure. I’ll never master technical terms, but I might push the right button more often, thanks to those visits. The latest personal update was when someone showed me his PS3, then the accompanied (too short) cables, pointed to his tennis court-sized Full HD tv, his eyes rolled away saying: ‘why on earth do they give us this kind of rubbish in a HD, Blue Ray compatible video game console?’ ‘And why is there no Infra Red Remote?’ Especially that latter made sense to me, I hate a pile of remotes, I always pick the wrong one, but no remote..? That’s a slip on a banana to me! Image by Photobucket/thewildlimabean

Women’s Words In War

June 2nd, 1865, the American Civil War that ripped apart families, friends and neighbors, ended. 627,000 lives got lost, more from sickness than from battle, it’s said. …meanwhile the soldiers who had won that victory were suffering more than tongue can related. Their clothes often froze to their bodies, and as there were no accommodations for so many, hundreds perished wholly without care…

Less known is that around 400 women on both sides served in the war. Very often pretending to be men, dressed like men, having a man’s name. …among them a young woman not more than 20 years of age. She ranked as lieutenant. She was wounded in the shoulder, and her sex was not discovered until she came to our hospital. It appeared that she had followed her lover to the battle and the boys who brought her in said that no one in the company showed more bravery than she did…

One woman, Dr. Mary Walker got the Medal of Honor. Over 80 of the women got wounded or killed. Many more served as peddlers, providers of food to the soldiers and even spies. As nurses and matrons of field hospitals. …I have had men die clutching my dress till it was almost impossible to loosen their hold. I have often taken young boys in my arms when they were so tired they could not rest in their beds, and held them as I would my own little boys. I never went to the ward with a sad face, but always had a smile and a cheery word for all. The doctor used to say he knew when I was ahead of him, for the patients had such pleasant countenances… (extracts from libraryautomation.com) Image by Photobucket/rmlangley

Super Stuff

June 1, 1495 is the date a first batch of Scotch whisky has been registered by a friar called John Cor. Whisky can get old, but this kind of first edition would not be drinkable. Not that I drink it a lot, pure, or on the rocks, i’ll hang on the ceiling like a bat with vertigo, if I do. But I won’t mind a drink like a Whisky Sour if I’m allowed to sip it for two hours. And I like to propose a toast to birthday boy: Super Man, his first comic was published on this very same day, the year 1938. There must be some barrel of whisky left from that year! Maybe in Cor’s monastery? Image by Photobucket/millymason